Abandonnerl'enfant (Forsake the Child)
by xmenfan33
Summary: How much can one moment, one life, affect the future? A world where they were unable to save the baby in the battle of the Tunnels. As the survivors struggle to live and fight back in a war torn world.( A semi sequel to Pour L'infant (For the child). Rated for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

**_._**

Preface

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_Nodding at the men fighting Sinister Wolverine ran past, attempting to get to Rogue, who was once again surrounded. Six Thieves and Assassins, all that remained of their army, were making their way to her as well. Gambit hesitated, divided on fighting Sinister or helping Wolverine, chose a moment later. Handing half of his quickly depleting daggers to Havok, he ran toward his son, and the woman holding him._

_Deadpool was not divided, he ran to the largest cluster of still remaining villains, and began cutting through them, as the last of Rogue's small guard fell. He faced off against the final Prism, effectively taking him down, as Riptide spun, landing several __shurikens into Deadpool, and a few into the other heroes. Rogue shielding the baby. Deadpool quickly beheaded Riptide, and then pulled the shurikens from his arms and chest, as he turned to fight Blockbuster._

_Quicksilver quickly collected the daggers from Havok, without missing a beat, and quickly sunk several into Sinister, pinning him to the floor. Finally, he stabbed Sinister in the head, as the final wave of villains surrounded Havok and him. Havok watched as the heroes with the baby slipped out of the entrance, then he step forward, hitting the button that Deadpool had given him, and the final explosion shook the tunnels, collapsing the remaining room, and crushing everyone inside._

_Wolverine, Gambit, Deadpool and Rogue were shook off their feet as they left the door. A moment later, they struggled to stand. It was then they noticed the police and MRD agents surrounding them. Looking down at the baby, Wolverine and Gambit resignedly raised the hands, and Rogue clutched the baby closer to her. Before they knew what was happening, a burned and deformed Sinister snatched the baby from her arms, disappearing back into the rubble._

" _Halt, Mutants. You are under arrest." Came from a bullhorn; as the men raise their weapons at the sudden movement._

"_**No**__!" Remy and Rogue scream, attempting to return to the tunnels, as Wade and Logan hold them back, and the officers open fire._

_Logan held onto the distraught father as long as possible, as he was pelted with bullets, neither man falling. Remy struggled against the heavier man, furthering the damage caused by the bullets; tearing at his wounds in an attempts to get free. Wade, however, released Rogue in favor of turning to the MRD agents. Even as Wade methodically removed agent after agent from the field, Rogue disappeared into the tunnels; with an unintelligible scream._

_Within minutes it was over, agents either dead or withdrawn, and Logan holding the now crying father as the watched the remaining tunnel collapse under the weight of the ground above it. Wade returned to their side and the men began digging, searching for the woman or child in the remains of the tunnel network, carrying on, even as night fell. None willing to quit, not until they had found them, or a body._

He woke with a gasp. Seven years yet the nightmare still haunted him every night. With a groan, and the realization that sleep had left him, at least for the night, the former leader climbed from his bed. He made his way to the front of the notably small cabin that had been their home for nearly four years. She was in the kitchen, eating a bag of chips when he walked in.

" The nightmare again, Father?" Laura asked, looking up from her novel.

"What are ya doin up?" He said in response, ignoring the question.

Laura shrugs. At eleven, she really should still be in bed herself, yet the child had always seemed sensitive to his moods, and he knew that he himself wasn't going to fair well today. Seven years ago, today, everything in his world fell apart.

They had lost. Lost the tunnels, lost their teams. Lost the baby. In turn, they had lost the war. No one, it seemed, had the drive to fight back, when the end began. In the end, none really even cared. Then he had, in the end left. When the fighting started, he had stayed, to watch after Charles, who had remained ominously silent since the tunnel. But then, He didn't really want to know what the future held at this point anyway. After all, knowing hadn't helped. However, when the enemy began pounding on their door, he had to make a choice. Honestly, it had been no choice at all, too many children had already been lost to this war.

With a sigh, he sat next to the girl, grabbing the chips from her, and picked up her book.

"Shouldn't let ya read this. It'll give ya nightmares."

" It's not scary, not really." The girl replied, taking the book back.

He really was undecided it was really far too violent for her, at her age. However, she'd already seen far more than any child ever should. He took it back, intending to hide the book in his room.

She sighed again, eating another chip, while staring mournfully at the book. She hadn't gotten very far into it, she'd just started when he'd woken.

"Why are you up, anyway?" He finally asked.

" Nightmare. The one about when they came to the school."

" I'm sorry." He replied, hugging her. That was another day he wished he could forget.

Just six days after the tunnels fell, none of them were really prepared for what came next. It had been bad enough , to have to bury that many empty casket, but then, the attack on the school in the aftermath, had left them all stunned.

_The sun had barely crested the horizon, nearly everyone was still asleep. The Thieves and Assassins had left the day before, however, Crystal and Luna, as well as the Maximoff girls were still there. Remy and Logan sat on the patio, neither having slept more than an hour since the Tunnel._

_Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from the front of the school, causing both men to jump to their feet, as the shock wave shook the school. They ran to through the back door as Logan enacted the security code, locking down the school, well aware that it was most likely to late and that they were most likely already inside._

_They reached the front hall at the same time as Wanda and Lorna. Crystal screaming from somewhere upstairs, baby Luna crying loudly._

" _Lorna, stay back!" Wanda screamed as she was hit with a stun grenade, thrown by the head MRD agent. Lorna screamed as Wanda fell, she was divided between running to her sister, or back up the stairs. The agent moved to shoot, but Logan jumped in front of the girl, shoving her toward the stairs._

_Remy stood between the stunned woman and the Agents. Emma started down the stairs, but both men screamed for her to stay back, as the lead agent aimed at her instead. Alice, who had appeared at the top of the stairs, quickly pushed Emma aside, and was shot instead. Laura screamed in rage, and attempted to run at the shooter, but was quickly grabbed by Beast, who ran with the child toward the sublevels. Logan moved quickly to cut off any attempt to follow, while Remy ran up the stairs, to protect Emma and Lorna. As well as Crystal and Luna. He led the stunned women down the hall, toward the screaming. He reached the room, to find Crystal struggling with two agents, who had broken in via the balcony; a third had a hold of Luna, who continued to cry. Remy quickly jumped into action, first knocking the men out that had a hold of Crystal, before simultaneously grabbing Luna and knocking the third man out._

_Remy quickly handed the infant to her mother, before shoving the four of them into a closet, shoving a dresser in front. He needed to ensure their safety. As well as get to the others. After he had them secured, he rushed back out of the door, and straight into a team of MRD agents._

_Logan and Hank had gotten as far as the medlab, and locked the doors, before looking around for a way to secure the patients. Ororo attempted to sit up from her position in the closest bed. Hank quickly set down the girl._

"_What happened?" She asked, as Logan gave up the search and began moving toward Kurt, who was the closest to the operating room._

" _We're under attack Ro. I need ta get you all in here, no glass ta break through." Logan replied as he pushed Kurt's bed through the doors. Beast growled and rushed from the room, intent on keeping the agents away from his patients. His roar could be heard down the hall. Logan returned less than a minute later to move Bobby, however he realized Ororo and Kitty were going to be harder to move, attached, as they were, to so much equipment._

_He returned a moment later, and moved Ororo, setting her monitors on her bed next to her. He quickly parked her next to the men as he heard a crash from the other room. Rushing back into the medlab, Logan growled at the men who were beginning to break through the door. Then he lifted Laura, who was still sobbing where Hank had set her down, and placed her on Kitty's bed. He then placed all of Kitty 's equipment on the bed with her and shoved the bed through the door just as the agents broke into the lab._

_Logan slammed the emergency button, securing the air locked doors, before placing the patients in a more secure, and safe, formation, and checking the equipment. Laura continued to cry, now softly, as he secured everyone else._

"_Laura, sweetheart, why don't you come sit with me" Ororo stared, struggling to sit up._

"_O-o-kay." The girl hiccupped, as she climbed on her would-be step mother's bed._

" _Darlin' we're goin ta be okay. " Logan said, as he double checked Kitty._

_They could hear the agents on the other side, trying to break down the door. Logan looked around him, at all the helpless people in the room with him, and began to grow angry. He knew this had to be about the Tunnels. The tunnels, that, thanks to unfailingly listening to what was virtually a ghost, had already cost them, and those around them, nearly everything._

_Rage building, Logan roared, as he rushed from the room, barely with the forethought to seal it behind him, and into the crowd of agents now making their way into the room. He mindlessly attacked the agents, yelling in grief and rage over not only this current attack, but the events leading to it._

_Remy stood in the upper hallway. He was unaware of how many still were free downstairs, but he was determined to keep the women behind him safe. He wasn't loosing anyone else, as long as he was still standing. He was unwilling to use his charges this close to the women in the closet, instead fighting the agents back with his staff, and hand to hand combat training._

_The agents, however, quickly realized that he wasn't using his powers and took advantage of it, eventually they nearly overwhelmed him with sheer numbers. Bloody and bruised, Remy continued to guard the door, refusing to move further away from it, or to falter. Eventually, he was struck, with what he would never know, on the back of his head. He made a final attempt to protect them women, giving in and charging the armor of the two closest men as he slid to the floor, blankness flooding over him, even as he heard Lorna's screams._

_Logan fought his way forward, knocking back as many of the men as he could, slicing through armor as if it were nothing and ignoring the screams and gurgles of the fallen. He made his way as far as Beast, who was just outside of the lab. A feral rage had overcome the normally calm doctor as he tore into the men with his bare hands, completely ignoring both the screams of pain, and the bullets he had been pelted with._

_Logan joined Hank in the defense of the lab, and it's helpless occupants, holding back wave after wave of invading agents, They had nearly defeated the agents, when Lorna's scream was heard throughout the mansion._

_Hank and Logan looked wordlessly at each other, before Hank nodded and Logan ran for the stairs. Hank then returned to the agents as he decided that his death would not matter, as long as those inside were safe._

_Logan made his way quickly to the second floor, cutting effortlessly through the invaders along the way. He reached the second floor landing as Wanda's scream joined Lorna's. Remy was crumpled, in a pile of rubble and former agents, just outside of the door. Logan looked briefly at the fallen man, and was assured that he was still breathing, before rushing into the room._

_Hank had been pushed back into the lab, by the agents, as he continued to savage man after man, and they, in turn , continued to riddle him with bullets. Still he was holding his ground, and they were nowhere close to the operating room. Then suddenly, a loud alarm sounded. One of the patients had either taken off their sensors, or was in trouble. Hank however, could do nothing about it._

_Divided as his attention was, Hank didn't notice the agent behind him until he felt the collar around his neck, as a dart hit him in the side._

_As he slid to the ground he begged. "Please…don't hurt the children."_

_Logan made it into the room, and was horrified to see what waited him. Wanda was tied and thrown against the farthest wall, Lorna's scream was abruptly cut off, as he entered the room, when the stock of a rifle smacked her in the temple. Crystal lay, in a growing puddle, in the center of the floor, Luna was nowhere to be seen. Emma, too was missing from the scene. Logan hoped briefly that she had somehow escaped with the infant._

" _You fools! You have no idea what you have done, you just attacked the __**Princesses**__ of Genosha!" Wanda stated with a sarcastic laugh. Everyone knew the new Genoshion treaty protected the 'Royal' family from any attack._

_The leader of the squad paled notably at Wanda's words, his eyes jumping to the dying mother on the floor. Logan roared, once more as he dispatched the agents in the room. The leader ran from the room, as his men fell. Logan then went to Crystal, but it was already too late._

" _Where are They?" He asked Wanda with a growl._

" _Secret panel. Behind the wall, Emma found it. Not enough room for everyone, and they were nearly in. So Crystal handed the baby to Emma. We were going to be right behind them."_

_Logan grunted, he had nearly forgotten the panel, but now that she mentioned it, he remembered, it opened into Chuck's room downstairs. The room acted as a panic room during an attack, and was really the best place for the girls. Logan untied Wanda and told her to take Lorna into the tunnel, he passed her the code as the door closed. Once typed in , the only thing the room would open for was the code._

_He the returned to the battle, intent on removing as many agents from the house as he could. Remy was once again ready to fight as well, as he struggled to his feet, wiping blood from his face._

" _Ya good kid?" Logan asked the younger man, who grunted in response as he took off the opposite direction._

_Logan didn't have time to worry about the injured man, as another wave entered the building. Logan dived from the landing with a scream, taking out two as he landed, then two more without pausing. He then turned to continue the fight; however, seeing his attack, the remaining men had run._

_Remy meanwhile, had made his way to the basement. There he found, among the ruins of the battle, Hank crumpled against the steel doors of the Operating Room. He was surrounded by the men who had shot and collared him, and they were prepping him for transport, as the alarm on the other side of the door continued to sound._

" _Now why y'be wantin de Doctor, he not be at de tunnel." Remy said, as he drew his staff, prepared to fight._

" _One mutant the same as the next, that one too men." Yelled the leader, as the agents attacked._

_Remy beat back the first five at once, as four of the six other men moved from Hank, who was unconscious, to join in the attack. The leader, meanwhile, pulled out another collar and attempted to get it on Gambit as the others attacked. Meanwhile the remaining two with Hank drug him from the room._

_Logan rushed into the room, as Remy, now collared, slipped to the floor. Roaring, Logan dispatched the remaining man and leader, the others already beaten by Remy. Logan then unlocked the collar, Remy's near fatal wounds healing as his powers returned._

_Logan then turned to the doors, typing the code in quickly, as the alarm continued to sound. He both hoped it was nothing and feared that moving them may have killed one of the patients. He pulled open the door, and was rushed by his four year old daughter._

_He picked the girl up, and moved into the room at the same time, as Remy shakily followed, growing stronger by the step. Remy quickly looked about the room, to determine who was in trouble. Ororo was sitting up, tears of pain and sorrow in her eyes. Bobby struggling to see something, anything as he still wasn't sure who had entered the room. Kitty's alarms, as Logan had feared, were the ones sounding, and not because they had come undone._

_Logan went quickly to the girl, setting his daughter down with Ororo on the way. However, something had been jostled during the rushed move, and it was already too late, she had hemorrhaged during the battle. Logan reluctantly turned off the monitors, as he covered the girl with a sheet. Bobby wailed in horror next to her, as Remy led the young child out of the room._

_He picked Laura up as they reached the door, with a groan. " Petite, lis'en t' moi now. Cover y' eye an don' look none til I say."_

_Laura nodded as she buried her face into his shoulder. Remy slowly made his way to Charles' safe room. He knocked gently on the door and called softly that it was safe to let him in. Emma reluctantly opened the door, resealing it as soon as Remy had slipped in._

_They all sat silently, no one willing to speak first. After several minutes Logan too arrived. He however, pounded loudly on the door, until Emma opened it._

"_C'mon. We ain't got time. I got the Blackbird ready, Ro an' the guys are already on board. I need ya to take Laura an Chuck too." Logan said as he walked into the room. " I'll be back for em but now, ya gotta get em to Genosha."_

_Emma, Wanda, and Lorna wordlessly filed out with Luna and Laura, on their way to the Blackbird. Emma knew how to fly it, as did Wanda, so Remy stayed with Logan._

He really did hate remembering that day. He wished that Laura could forget it. Smiling at the girl, who was growing up far quicker than he would like, He suggested that she attempt to return to bed. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easily, for either of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

**_._**

Chapter One

_Royal Palace, Genosha._

Wanda and Lorna stood together, about to enter the balcony. This was as they now referred to it, The Day of The Lost. It was a memorial, held every year, to remember their Fallen King and Prince, as well as the others who had perished in the Tunnels that day, Mutant and Human a like. In the seven years since the battle of the tunnels, Genosha's population had swollen, with refugees of both races.

Wanda, as she had promised her sister all those years ago, ruled at Lorna's side. Together they ran the only remaining free body in the world. Kurt, Wanda's husband, was an ambassador, bringing in refugees as he found them, from all over the world. He was not here today, because they had heard a rumor that there was a small band of people hiding on the Ivory Coast. He had gone to ensure their safe arrival.

Wanda sighed as they stepped through the doors, guards on either side of them, and walked to the edge of the balcony. A cheer sounded throughout the crowd below, and she waited for calm to restore before she began.

" My people. Today is a day of reflection. For seven years ago, today, two hundred brave men, human and mutant a like, entered into a battle with what we know is the world's greatest foe. That day… We lost many good men, Our King and Prince among them. For that we remember. And we remember the lives that were torn apart that day, and in the days and weeks that followed. We lost our sister in law, our brother, and our father, Your Princess, Prince and King, to a senseless war that rages still to this day.

As many of you, who our refugees know, this war continues every day. Every day new lives are lost, yet every day we fight, is an another day They do not have full power. So we will continue to fight, until my dying breath and beyond! But also we remember today, as the day where mutants and humans proved our races can work together. Genosha, our beautiful home, has become the symbol of that alliance. We can work together; we will work together, to continue for the betterment of our people.

To-"

Wanda's speech was interrupted, mid-word, as an explosion shook the crowd, people screamed running in every direction. The guards grabbed the rulers, and shoved them, not ungentle, through the balcony doors, landing on top of them, as the called out orders into their mouth pieces. Guards, down below, in the crowd, began searching for the culprit as others began ushering the people to the Shelters. This was not completely unexpected. Wanda and Lorna, the now Queen and Princess, were never together, aside from this speech once a year. A speech that, had been reluctantly broadcast throughout the world, for the first time this year.

Wanda stood, a moment later, and rushed, with her guards, to the lower levels of the palace, where Luna had already been relocated as well as Wanda's infant daughter, Tallia. Their nurse was with them in the safe room, when Wanda appeared.

It had been decided, very recently, and with great protest from Wanda, that if they were attacked directly, Lorna would lead the army. Wanda, as Queen, and as a mother to both her own child and her niece, would be kept safe in the rooms below. It was suggested, by their advisers, that it was best for morale that the people knew their queen was safe.

Lorna, meanwhile, remained in the war room, three doors away from where they had been when the bomb had detonated. She would lead the army from here, instead of the field, if at all possible. The room was in chaos as initial reports came in; many claiming to have seen the Dogs on the outskirts of the city. This caused a panic amongst the advisers in the room, which annoyed the General, who in turn yelled for order. Lorna stepped forward at this point, clearing her throat, and swiping stray hair from her face.

" Enough! We knew this may happen, when we agreed to broadcast today. Everything, every safety measure is in place already. The people are in the shelters, the army is standing by, so if the Dogs really are out there we will know within the hour, However, panic will help nothing!" Lorna stated. The room calmed slightly, they were still panicked, however were no longer yelling.

She then stepped over to the map, and began plotting a strategy. If Dogs, had indeed been dropped within their borders it was best to catch them now. She planned carefully, pulling from memory, the plans for such an emergency, and then combined them with the plans for an attack.

"Alright. Sturgis needs to take his men out to the farmlands, check every house, every cellar, every tree, and catch all of those monsters. Hathorn needs to lead a group within the city. Find those bombers. Garrenett, I need you to send some men to the Shelters, have them check for injuries, and infiltrators.

General Marstein. Calm down. Then I need you to contact our outside allies, see what they know about today's attack. Then you need to set about securing the city, and the island. Thank you everyone, dismissed."

With that, the men in question left quickly, as Lorna continued to stare at the maps. In her, and her sister's opinion, broadcasting was a mistake; however, this was one time she would have been happy to have been wrong.

~o~O~o~

Sturgis led his men to the country side. Though he had every intent to follow her instructions, he hoped the Princess had been correct and the Dogs were not actually here on the island. They began on the west bank, making their way inland. The West bank was where all of the Ports were located. They began on the boats, searching them all thoroughly. Including engine rooms, and found nothing. They then began on the farms, a job that would take a little longer.

The farms belonged to the Royal family, and all goods grown on them, were shared evenly amongst the people. They harbored no ill will toward the human natives. By being the sole control of the grocery store and farms, the Family was also able to prevent price hikes, on days such as today.

In all actuality they did not require the shipments that arrived on a regular basis, They ordered things mainly because they didn't want Him to know they were self sufficient ; however, now the three farms felt like a hindrance to Sturgis, as he led his men from building to building, searching for enemies.

They were halfway finished with the final farm, when unfortunately; they came across a pair of the Dogs. The Dogs were in the final barn, devouring a sheep that they had taken from the flock, when Sturgis men came across them. The men drew their weapons immediately, and the Dogs turned from their meal, vacant look in their eyes, as usual.

These Dogs, were all were tall, blond, with razor sharp claws and fangs. These clones, in addition, had been created with little intelligence but very hot tempers. When they smelled the guns they were both ready to attack. They viciously tore through Sturgis' men, as the men shot them down, over and over.

Sturgis watched in horror, as he called for back up. His men fell one by one, in pieces, to the floor of the barn, as the Dog tore into their flesh with teeth and claws. This terrified the young captain, who, until last year, had lived in a small town on the coast of Maine. His village had been amongst the first set upon by these monsters, but he had never heard of them attacking so viciously during the day.

He prayed this pair were a fluke, because if they had begun hunting at any time, he wasn't sure the mainlanders would survive. Hell, he wasn't sure they would, here on the island. Because the only way to truly stop a Dog, was for the Master to call it off.

Back up arrived within minutes of his call, tranquilizer guns and nets in hand. This was the team trained to hunt the Dogs. They went into the barn, as Sturgis waited outside. He just couldn't stomach a second look at what those monsters had done to his men.

~o~O~o~

Hathorn led his men through the city, beginning in the center, near the palace and working in slow circles outwards. They were searching for the bombers. His men were searching every house top to bottom, searching not just for people who didn't belong there, but evidence of the ones who may have planted the bomb. All of them were hoping that it was an outsider that had done this, but there was no guarantee that the person or persons involved hadn't already infiltrated days or possibly months before.

No one was home, in any of the buildings near the commons, all had fled to the Shelters. It bothered Hathorn, how they were invading the citizens privacy, without warning or even their presence. Honestly, it reminded him too much of life on the main land. Hathorn had grown up in London, and had witnessed many of the 'drone' raids on his own and his neighbors' homes in the last six years, since HE claimed control of the world. In his opinion, the only things worse than the Drones, were the Dogs.

Drones came in as mindless puppets of the Master, raided everything, took what they wanted and destroyed what they didn't. Objects and people. Hathorn had lost both a mother and a sister to the raids. His mother had died right in front of him, during the first raid; his sister, was even worse. She was taken , screaming , from his arms, only a year ago.

His mind was lost in this horrific memory when they entered the first house of the fifth ring. There they finally encountered the occupants. An elderly couple, clearly too weak to move to the Shelters, and their daughter and grandson, who had stayed with them.

Judging by the fear in the eyes of the adults, these people too, had survived the raids. " There's nothing to fear. We aren't here to harm anyone." Hathorn assured them as his men searched the building. " We are searching for the bombers."

" Captain." Came a call from upstairs. He smiled one last time at the child, before mounting the stairs, leaving them to his men.

He arrived, in what appeared to be a nursery, to find his men surrounding the closet. " What is it?" he demanded.

" We have the bomber trapped in there. Least he claimed to be the bomber. But he's got a kid, grabbed her straight outta the crib when we came in." answers the man who called him.

"Mister. You need to come out slowly, put the kid down, and surrender. This doesn't need to go any further. " Hathorn said, attempting to reason with the man. He wanted to avoid any injury to the infant if he could.

" Tell your men to withdraw. I will then leave the child, and walk out of here." Came the voice from the closet. " Remain outside of those doors, and you can present a lifeless body to a grieving mother, and I still walk out of here. It is up to you."

Wordlessly, Hathorn pulled his men back. He recognized that voice, he didn't think he would ever forget it. The man meant it, he would kill the infant without a second thought. As they retreated down the stairs, he heard the closet open. Hathorn honestly had no desire to look into this monster's face, now or ever again.

Drones were bad enough, they always had been. But this was the Master himself. He shuddered, as the monster walked slowly down the stairs, past the terrified family, and out of the front door. Bullets had no effect on him anyway, they had tried often enough when he was younger. None were willing to shoot with the infant in his arms anyway, as the mother wailed and clung to her son.

Hathorn called for backup as the door clicked closed, and the mother collapsed to the floor in tears. He warned the General and Princess that the Master himself was on the island. He felt no need to mention the tiny hostage, and as one of his men began to question if they should follow themselves, the reason why flew through the closest window in a tightly wrapped bundle. The infant inside, at least still alive, judging by the cries.

Hathorn ran to the bundle, unwrapping the baby. She was injured from the glass and the fall, but she would survive. He signaled for one of his men, who came forward and took the child from his arms.

" Take her, and her mother, to the clinic. She should be alright." Hathorn stated, as he lead the rest of his men in pursuit of the Master, praying there were no other civilians outside of the Shelter. He didn't really believe the child would be fine, but then, no one ever was, not after an encounter with Him.

~o~O~o~

Garrenett led his men to the Shelter. The guards stood outside, ready to attack any enemy that arrived. They reached the building, and were a third of the way through the injured when the call from Sturgis, then Hathorn came in over the radio.

Unfortunately, the people closest to them heard the calls, and with moments, the citizens throughout the shelter were aware that the Dogs and the Master were somewhere on the island. This then caused a panic, as people attempted to either secure the doors, or escape.

The screams of panic, then pain as people were crushed against the doors, filled the room. Garrenett ordered his men to calm the situation, but he could already tell that it may be too late. Nearly everyone here was a refugee from the last six years. They feared the idea of their last safe haven destroyed. Garrenett could see the same fear in the eyes of his men, even as several broke rank and joined the mob.

Garrenett called the situation in, as he attempted to restore order himself, finally going as far as shooting his gun into the ceiling. An eerie quiet befell the room, as the ringing from the shot faded.

" Now listen up people. You are safe in here. At least far safer than you would be out there. So I need you all to come, sit back down, and wait it out. You wouldn't be pressing at the doors if this were a hurricane would you? Then why on Earth would you try to escape into the Dogs?! Heeler, Burns, kindly remove Martinez, Kinley, and Parks side arms, and sit them here with me. They are officially relieved of duty."

Everyone slowly made their way back to the benches, medics adding the crush victims to the list of patients. Garrenett sighed. Order had been restored, for now, however, it wouldn't last long. The fear of these monsters had even caused a panic amongst his own men, the civilians were even worse. But at least, the Dogs were in the outskirts of the island.

It had occurred to him, as he assumed it would the Princess, that the only way they could have arrived without notice, was an infiltrator. Really, the question was who, and how many. This question ran through his head, as he walked slowly up and down the rows, searching for the enemy at the same time as observing the injuries. Many, he could tell, would not survive the day. These severely injured, however, were being treated as well, at least for now.

He considered ordering the medics not to waste the supplies on these victims, but eventually decided against it. He knew that would lead to another panic. Instead he subtly suggested that to a few of them, to treat the pain, and move on to those who could be saved. Calm had been nearly restored, when a pounding on the door sounded.

About half the occupants stood at the sound, but relaxed when the guards announced that they emitting the clinic personnel and patients. They helped everyone inside, including a new mother and the victims of the attack of the Master.

Garrenett had been, as he was now, a soldier, when this had all started. He had witnessed, more than once the aftermath of these raids, both in his native Canada, and as Wanda and Lorna sent aide since he'd arrived here five years ago. He had, in fact, lost his own family to a raid. The guilt of not being there at the time, had led him to flee to Genosha with his one surviving child, a son, Devon, who was now an adult, and on the Princess Luna's personal guard. There at least, he wouldn't have to worry where his son was right now.

Though, with the Dogs and the Master on the island, the Palace's safety wasn't guaranteed. Garrenett refused, however, to think about it. Panicking himself would lead to disaster, for himself and everyone in the building. Instead he focused on what he could control, including subtly reprimanding the Medics for wasting resources on the dying. He, however, couldn't bring himself to say anything, as a pair of them worked on an injured infant, as his mother and brother watched tearfully.

A new mother, and her day old son, sat calmly in the corner, almost in shock. After his third round, Garrenett went over to the silent woman, and sat next to her.

" My husband. He was part of the farm search." The woman began. "None of them made it back, did they?"

"I am not sure yet. Sturgis called for backup about thirty minutes ago. It's really too soon to know."

"I heard what they were saying on the radio, on the way over here. They ran into a pair of Dogs. My husband is gone. Don't worry, you can say it, I'm not going to panic…or say anything to the rest of them."

"It didn't sound good. However, as I said, the reports haven't come in yet."

" Do you think Sturgis and the backup survived?"

"…I don't know."

The woman nodded, and Garrenett stood. She may be in shock, but at least, true to her word, she hadn't said anything to cause the panic. He made his way slowly back to Martinez, Finley, and Parks. Martinez and Parks looked ashamed of their actions; however Finley continued to appear angry and panicked. Garrenett could tell, without a word, that Finley would not be rejoining his guard.

Sighing heavily, he sat next to his men. "When this crisis is settled, you will be subject to review. If you can prove to us that this will not occur again, you will be allowed to return to duty."

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what came over me." Parks stated.

" I do. I've seen the Dogs. I'm sorry sir, but the Dogs. I can handle anything but them." Martinez stated.

Finley remained silent, and Garrenett wasn't surprised. Finley hadn't been on his team long, but the man was already an issue before this, not tending to follow orders correctly, always with a chip on his shoulder. Honestly, he would be sad to lose Martinez, but Finley, he had never trusted to begin with. He rested his head against the wall, with the realization that this would be a very long day, as the cries of the mourners began.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_Chapter Two_

_Genosha._

Lorna listened, with growing horror as the reports came in. She stared at her advisers and the General, questioning, silently, who among them were traitors, because at least one had to be. That was the only explanation for what had happened.

A bomber sneaking in somehow, yes that could happen, it had in fact, in her father's time; an event that to this day embarrassed her when she thought about it. At sixteen, she should have known not to trust the man, yet she had. If it had been just a bomber, she could have believed, that someone equally as crafty had snuck in. There was no way, however, that the Dogs or the Master could have arrived unnoticed onto the island without inside help.

She stared at her men, people who had been by her and her sister's side for the last seven years, as they attempted to remain the safe haven for all, even in their own grief. At least one of them had betrayed her. It was nearly unimaginable. She had known these men nearly all of her life, many having been in the palace in her father's time, many at her father's side before Genosha was formed.

Lorna needed to speak to her sister. Wanda would know better how to handle this. She had dealt with this sort of thing before. Lorna though, until now, had been spared having to deal with turncoats. Not for the first time, she missed her Father.

"Princess?" The General questioned, as she stared, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Yes. Send more men to protect the Shelter, and keep order. When Sturgis reports in, have him and his men return to the city, shut the gates. No one in or out, except for Sturgis. When he arrives, I want a full report immediately." Lorna stated. He nodded and called her instructions in, as she stood, and walked to the window.

"Are you alright?" asked Hanstien, her chief advisor.

"No Tom. I'm not." She began. "My people are destroyed, the city in ruins, and the enemy inside our borders. For the first time in seven years."

"Ma'am..."he began.

"No. One among you betrayed us all. Who is the only question." She replied.

The men around her began to retreat, as objects around the room began to rise, the doors slamming into place as the General reached them. The men panicking as they were trapped, Tom Hanstien begging her to see reason.

"I am sorry. There is no way to know for sure, who among you did this." Lorna stated.

They begged as the chairs, tables, and paperweight around them contorted into spears, then rushed toward their targets. Some of them then tried to defend themselves, both with their powers, and for some with guns. One, attempted to contort the spears back away from them with telekinesis. Another, burnt several of the weapons, nearly melting them. A third created a shield around himself and those closest to him. The General and two others shot directly at Lorna, who turned the bullets back at the shooters.

She simply pushed harder as the men resisted; they began to falter as the spears made their way past the defenses. She cried silently as her men fell one by one, but pressed on until there wasn't a man left standing. Lorna looking away as the screams of her men faded. She turned, unsteady, to look at her once beautiful city, and wonder how many would survive the night.

~o~O~o~

Wanda listened, with growing horror, to the reports coming in, from her position next to the guards. Luna and Tallia were thankfully occupied with their nanny, and were unaware really, of anything being wrong. Luna had, after all, been through monthly drills her entire life.

Tallia was too young to realize anything was wrong, at five months old, she was barely aware of the change in her routine. The nanny, however, was visibly stressed as was Luna's guard, Devon. They sat together, with the girls rolling a ball back and forth, as Wanda watched.

The screams upstairs caused Wanda to immediately run for the door, as both girls began to cry. Her own guards held her back as they begged her to remain in the safe room. Wanda was afraid for her sister, and the rest of the palace staff, if the Dogs had made it as far as the palace.

This fear, however, was satisfied, when Lorna appeared a few minutes later, in a blood splattered dress. Instead it was replaced with fear of what may have befallen her sister, as she once again rushed forward, this time to examine her sister.

"We were betrayed." Lorna stated simply.

"Are you harmed?" Wanda replied.

"No. I-"Lorna began, as she collapsed into tears. "I didn't know who …I-I killed them all."

The nanny and several guards gasped, in shock and fear. Wanda glared in their direction, as she comforted her sister. A decision on whether Lorna had acted unjustly could be made later, right now Wanda was acting as Queen, but as a sister, whose sibling was distraught over recent events.

Luna slowly approached her aunts, worried that Lorna was injured. She looked up at them, and asked "Did the bad ones come?"

"Yes, darling, the bad ones were here. But do not worry. You are safe in this room. Here no one can get to you." Wanda replied.

Before further responses could be made, Sturgis called in, to report that he and the recovery team were at the city gates. They had managed to shake the Dogs, and made it this far, but required a password from Wanda to get past the gates.

She quickly gave it to them, and ordered that Sturgis meet her in the throne room, with in ten minutes. She then demanded updates from Garrenett and Hathorn. Hathorn replied that it appeared the Master had slipped out of the city before the gates closed. Garrenett reported that the situation in the Shelter was shaky, at best. Wanda then ordered the release of the Shelter, and ordered both men to join Sturgis.

~o~O~o~

Hathorn made his way to the palace, after ordering his men to finish the search. They had, unfortunately, come across three other families that hadn't made it all the way to the Shelter. However, except for one small boy, it had been too late by the time his men had arrived. The child was with Hathorn now, he had been unwilling to just send him off, and he was uninjured.

He recognized the boy, he neighbor's son, and the boy knew him as well and so clung to him. Hathorn shifted the child to his hip as he entered the throne room. He knew that carrying an unknown child was unprofessional; that honestly he would most likely hear about it from the General, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the child outside, not even with the servants that milled around.

He quickly joined Garrenett as they waited for Sturgis, and the Family.

"Where'd you pick up the child?" Garrenett questioned, as Hathorn sat next to him.

"Found him, alone, next to his house. He lives next door to me. Or he did."

"Shit."

"Whoever did this. I hope they suffer as they die."

"They did, I assure you." Wanda stated as she walked into the room.

Both men moved quickly to their feet, the boy in Hathorn's arms woken by the movement.

"Please. Sit. It's been a long enough day, without having to stand." Wanda said, sitting herself. "And who is this?" she asked, pointing to the child.

"….This is Tony, ma'am. He lived next door to me, until this morning." Hathorn replied. He fully expected a reprimand for having the child with him.

"Very well. Report, please." Wanda replied, dropping the matter.

"We have roughly twelve dead inside the city. It appears that they were all killed by the Master. I saw no evidence that any Dogs made it past the walls. We have everything except the west end warehouse district; my men should be finished there with in the next twenty minutes. We found no evidence of a collaborator or collaborators in any residence. "Hathorn stated.

"Good. When your men are done, they will search the administrative wing of the Palace, as well as the advisers quarters." Wanda replied. "This betrayal is very high up, to have made it this far into the city."

"We have three hundred injured, seventy-five dead, over at the Shelter. I suspect, based on early reports from the Medical personal that we can expect fifty more to pass before night fall." Garrenett reported. "A panic occurred at the mention of the Dogs. We had ten crush victims, that were severely injured, and twenty more, moderately so. Three of my men broke rank and joined the panic."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Will any of them be fit for future service in your opinion?" Wanda asked, in a tired tone.

"Parks should be. Martinez, I'm not sure, not if the Dogs are going to be a continuing issue on the island. Finley…I'm afraid to ask this, but he may need to be subject to a full review. I am uncertain of his innocence at this time."

"I see, have him immediately detained, and a full review of his conduct to me by morning."

"Shall I pass this to the general or-"

"General Marstien is no longer in the service of Genosha. He, along with the Advisory staff was suspect of traitorous activity, and as such was punished accordingly."

"Understood, My Lady."

"Now. Hathorn. As to the matter of young Toby. Are you willing to act as his guardian at this time?" Wanda questioned.

"Tony, my Lady. Yes, I am willing to care for the child."

"Forgive me, Tony then. He will be in your care, you will, in regard to his well being, be stationed to Princess Lorna's personal guard, until further notice." Wanda finishes, as Sturgis entered the room.

"Ma'am." Sturgis began, before sitting, as he was indicated. "We encountered four Dogs in all. My men, were lost, all of them as well as half the recovery team. The attack ended when the Master appeared and called them to him. I personally witnessed the board an outbound ship before I could stop them."

"So the Dogs are no longer on the Island?" Garrenett asked, before Wanda could respond. Catching himself he apologized.

"It is alright. Please, Sturgis, answer the question."

"We found no evidence of continued occupation." Sturgis responded.

"Good. As of this moment, the Island will remain in lock down. No boat or plane is to land without express permission, and nothing, and no one is allowed to leave the ships until they have been thoroughly searched. I want you three to make me a list, of your most trusted men for this duty. Additionally, Garrenett, you are officially promoted. Congratulations General." Wanda stated.

Lorna, now changed, slipped into the room as Wanda finished these instructions. At her own request she was no longer the leader of the Genoshian army. She was not, at the moment, an active Genoshian leader at all. Lorna felt she needed time to reflect on her actions.

Wanda had attempted to talk her out of this position, but Lorna had been firm. She was done. At least for now. Wanda wanted nothing more than to have her husband here with her right now…or her father. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. In a matter of hours, all that they had built, the peace they had worked so hard to give their people, was gone.

From the reports coming in, she could tell, a third of her people were injured or dead. Families torn apart just as easily as her own had been years before. As far as Wanda could tell, there was really only one answer to maintain the safety of her people. Like her father before her, she had decided the only way to keep them all safe was to close their borders.

Kurt would return tomorrow, with the latest and last batch of refugees. Then their borders would close. They would remain that way until something out there changed. She would put in the call tonight, and officially invite, one last time, any trusted allies to join them on the Island, but after that, even allies would be locked out.

She dismissed the meeting, and went to double check her numbers, but she was sure, with less than four hundred people on Genosha, they should be able to maintain total self-reliance for the foreseeable future. She confirmed her theory quickly; the only supplies they were short on could be easily gained by her husband, and possibly allies, if they chose to join them.

She then called her husband first, to update him on the situation.

"Wanda! Are you all right? Tallia, Luna?" Kurt stated as he took the call. His own assistant telling him she was on the phone.

"The girls and I are fine. We were not near the explosion. "Wanda replied.

"Thank God."

"Kurt…I don't know how much the cameras caught before things were cut off. I know the reporters were in the Shelter, and they were ordered to turn off the cameras."

"The last we heard, was there was an explosion at your speech, which was live, I saw it occur. I have been watching all afternoon, but there have been no further reports."

"It was worse than that. The Master and Dogs appeared on the Island, shortly after the bomb. We determined that we were betrayed, by the upper councilmen. They have been removed; however, the only way to ensure the safety of the Genoshians is to close our borders. Your ship will be the last one in for the foreseeable future."

"How many were lost?"

"The numbers are still coming in, at the moment, over a hundred, including soldiers, now, but several are not well."

"The Ivory Coast refugees?"

"Interview them carefully, if any are at all suspect, leave them. I trust your judgement."

"What of our allies."

"I shall contact them next. There aren't that many left outside of Genosha."

They talked for several more minutes, as they confirmed the details of tomorrow's arrivals, and the safety of their children, before they hung up, for her to call the others.

As stated, there weren't many left on that list, it wasn't that long to begin with, and after the Tunnels years before, they had lost many. Surprisingly, to them, they gained a powerful one however, in the form of the United Guild of New Orleans. The Guild had been working with Genosha as spys on the outside for the last six years. Now though was the time to invite them to the Island.

They had been invited before, indeed some of the first human refugees had come from the Guild. However, the majority had at that time stayed on the mainland. Now Mercy LeBeau was the first call she made. Within moments the call was completed, the Guilds agreed to come, as soon as they were aware of the full situation.

Next she called what remained of the Brotherhood, Domino was the leader. She like Mercy, agreed to come, as soon as Wanda explained what had occurred. Wanda hesitated, then called the final number in the book. She didn't expect him to say yes, she had invited him before, yet he swore he was out of the battle, out of the world. His family was safely hidden, and in the past he had refused to do anything that may change that.

With a heavy sigh ,she dialed the number.

"Hello?" responded a young female voice.

"Laura." Wanda began.

" Oh thank God, Wanda! We saw the explosion on television. We were so worried for you, Father was nearly out of his mind. Here let me go get him for you. You are all alright aren't you?"

" Yes, the girls and I are fine."

"Oh good, here hold on"

Wanda heard the muffled yell as the girl called for her father, who must have been nearby because he took the phone less than a minute later.

"Lo"

"I know I asked you before, but this is different. Our borders close in less than twenty-four hours. I would like very much, if you would consider joining us on the Island before then."

"Ya picked Xavier up, last month like I asked ya too?" He had been traveling, once a month to the mansion for years, but it was deep in the occupied zone, therefore, the risk was no longer worth it in anyone's opinion.

"Yes, yes we did."

" You and the girls are alright?"

"Yes we are."

"….I'll think about it."

Wanda sighed as she hung up, that had gone about as well as she had expected it too, Now though, wasn't the time to dwell on it. She had far too much to do, including going down to the Shelter, to check on the injured and give her condolences to the families.

Wanda made her way to the shelter, with her personal guard beside her. She needed to see for herself the damage that had been done. Garrenett had tried to talk her out of it; he'd attempted to have her wait until the city and the scene were more secure. Wanda had refused. Her People needed to see her alive and among them.

She also had to see, for herself, the damage that had been caused. Tomorrow would be early enough for speeches, for tonight, her people needed to be cared for. She walked into the Shelter, where most of the injured, and their families, remained. Everyone had been told it was safe to return to their homes within the city walls, and most had left. She had past, and spoken, to clusters of them on her way.

Wanda stopped first, at the side of the distraught mother, whose daughter was Master's first victim. She clung helplessly to her young son, as she wailed at the loss of her daughter. Wanda spoke to the doctor briefly, who explained what had occurred, before silently hugging the young mother. No words could give comfort, she knew from experience, words just worsened the wounds.

She then slowly made her way through the crowd, comforting victims and their families as she passed, she took in, with much grief, the families that had been torn apart, first with the bombs, then the attacks. Many, she could see for herself, would not live through the night.

~o~O~o~

Kurt, as he hung up, said a silent prayer for his people before turning to his own guard. He never brought advisers with him on these trips, the only reason he agreed to the guard was to help protect the refugees.

Even after nearly seven years, ruling a country at his wife's side sometimes felt unreal. Like this whole world was a nightmare that they would suddenly wake from. Today however, was reality. His people were hurting, his family endangered, and he was too far away to do anything about it.

" I want them all gathered here so I can interview all personally….. have Elizabeth meet me here in a moment." Kurt stated.

The guard bowed and left the tent, to carry out the order, as Kurt slumped into his chair. He wanted to get this done as quickly as possible, so that he could return to his wife and daughters. He had already decided, before this, that Ivory Coast run would be his last one. Three times a year, for six years, was enough time to be away from his family. Wanda shouldn't have to rule Genosha alone.

Kurt loved Lorna, but honestly, the girl wasn't helpful in the day to day running of a country. She was far too hot-tempered, and unrealistic. Kurt had, for years, helped Wanda with the day to day overseeing of the country, unless he was away on one of these refugee runs.

Elizabeth appeared in his tent, interrupting his musings. She had been with the royal family for years, and was trusted amongst them all. He quickly explained the situation, and what he wanted before they began the interviews.

The process was slow, lasting far into the night, and they had finally given the all clear on the final Refugee around midnight. In all, they had interviewed fifty-six men and women, and had rejected ten. Tiredly, Kurt retired for the evening, fully intent on starting out at first light.

Kurt woke with a start. He was unsure what had happened, but knew that something in the camp was wrong. Before he could move, however, he was grabbed by a pair of hands, a collar throw around his neck before he could react. The last thing Kurt saw, before he passed out from the injection, was Elizabeth standing over him, next to Death. _You too?_ Was his last thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_

_._

_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_

_._

_**Chapter Three**_

_**.**_

_Undisclosed location in the Northern Territory._

He woke early, sure that something was amiss in the cabin. He quickly jumped from his bed and rushed to the large front room, where he found Laura shutting the front door, and relocking it.

"And where do you think you're going this early in the day?" He demanded, with relief that she was alright.

Laura jumped and gave a startled yell before responding. "Father, I didn't see you there. I was simply checking on a sound that I heard, over by the well."

" You heard a strange sound and went to investigate with out informing me that you were leaving the house?! Do you remember what happened just yesterday on Genosha?! "

"Yes, but-"

" No. No buts. You've had far too much freedom recently. You will remain in the cabin until further notice. No walks in the yard, no visits to the well, nothing."

"But…it sounded like an infant."

"All the more reason for you to ask for help! Damn it Laura. The world isn't safe. The monsters that walk the Earth are not beneath using a child to get to the parents! Even if it had been an infant, that would be no excuse for an _**eleven**_ year old to go outside before the sun came up!"

"I know, but-"

"No! Go to your room, and remain there until I come get you. I will check the perimeter. "

Laura nodded, and sniffling at the unfamiliar reprimand, disappeared into her room. Sighing, he then turned to the door. He really didn't want to deal with whatever had occurred the night before , this early in the morning.

It was part of why he'd moved them so far out, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the morning after anymore. Three years of it had been more than enough for anyone. It certainly wasn't a sight for children.

He pulled on his boots, and left the cabin, carefully locking the door behind him as he went in search of this 'infant cry' his daughter claimed to have heard. He sighed, as he trudged through the recently fallen snow, first following Laura's path, then pausing to listen.

After a minute, he heard it himself. She had the direction right, at least, but it was further out than she had assumed. Thankfully, she had stopped at the well. That was much further out than he would have liked before daybreak, but not as far as he had feared.

Slowly, and quietly as possible, he followed the sound. Twenty long minutes later, he had made it to the road. As he broke through the tree line, he knew, immediately, where the sound was coming from.

A car was crashed on the embankment, a body lying outside of the driver's side door, sprawled in the snow. Inside the car, the baby's cry could still be heard, though, as he stood there, it began to falter. He walked quickly toward the car, still fearing an ambush, and bent next to the driver.

She appeared to be somewhere in her early twenties, she lay in a pool of her own blood, already growing cold. At a glance, he could tell that she had been attacked, but whether it was a predator or a Dog would take further examination of her wounds. Grunting at the effort, he slowly rolled her over, to reveal her injuries.

The woman had been badly mulled, the left side of her face and chest destroyed, severe damage to the right side of her chest as well as her abdomen. She was still clutching a knife, clearly her only weapon, in her right hand. The knife, however, had impaled her left lung as she had fallen. Even if he had arrived sooner, it would have been far too late to save this woman. He could see now, from where he was crouched, the drag marks of a second victim as they disappeared into the woods, thankfully on the far side from the cabin. He hoped that she'd managed to injure the monster, even if those injures would heal before it suffered greatly.

He'd seen enough, so he slowly turned her back over, to her original position, hiding the wounds from whoever was in the car. He then examined the drag marks closest to him, but was unable to determine either the size of the victim, or their level of injury. Not that it would matter, by now they would be dead.

He slowly stood, and turned to the car. It was defiantly a Dog that had mulled her, so there wasn't much time. He superstitiously looked around, as he slowly, and quietly, opened the rear door. Inside, huddled together, he saw a young boy of about four, and wrapped with him was the infant that had given their position away. The boy stared wide eyed as the door opened, hugging the infant closer to himself in an attempt to hide, or quiet it.

"Hey. Don' worry. I ain't gonna hurt ya." He said, as he slid into the seat to check them over for injuries.

Then the boy, said " Momma said stay in the car. Help would come. Are you help?"

"Yeah. I am." He replied, as he looked the boy over, who seemed unharmed.

" Momma was hurt by a Dog. It come outta the trees, and gotted her." The boy stated, as he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"I saw that. Now why don' you go ahead and tell me your names." He said as he turned to the baby.

" I's Kvin, 'is is Emly." The boy said, around his thumb.

"Kevin an Emily?"

The boy nodded in response, no longer willing to talk.

"Al'ight kids. Here wha we're gonna do. I want ya to grab whatever ya need, and then we're gonna step outta the car. I want you ta look straight ahead til we get to the trees, then we're gonna walk ta my house. Okay?"

"But buy guy in wood." The boy said, pointing with his other hand.

" I ain't gonna let it get ya. Sides the sun's up. They won't get ya in the light."

The child nodded, and he helped them into their coats, as they gathered 'what they needed', which turned out to be the boy's stuffed rabbit, and the baby's bag.

"Now, it's gonna be cold out there, so I want ya to walk as fast as you can, so we can get t' my home as quick as we can." He instructed the child. The boy nodded once more and took his hand, then they walked quickly toward the trees.

He continued to watch and listen for any sign of the Dogs. Despite his assurances, Wanda had told him about the attacks yesterday. There was no guarantee they had been rogues, therefore he would feel a lot better about these kids once he had them inside. If it hadn't been totaled, he would have driven them in their car.

Even walking as quickly as he could, and carrying both of the children at points, it took them nearly forty minutes to return to the clearing around his cabin. He hated being away for so long, fearing that the Dogs would come in his absence. However, everything appeared normal as they approached the door, no new footprints in the snow.

With a sigh he led the boy inside, and called out " Al'ight. You did hear a baby, ya can come outta yer room now."

The door opened slowly, as Laura poked her head out, and stared wide-eyed at the children with him. He gestured impatiently for her to come into the front room, as he helped them out of their coats, and laid the baby carefully onto a blanket from the couch.

~o~O~o~

_Royal Palace, Genosha_

Wanda waited patiently while the phone rang , as she called her husband. She had been trying all morning, and was growing very worried over his lack of response. It was unheard of, really for the phone to ring itself out, but for it to happen more than once, she knew something had gone wrong.

Wanda called again a fe minutes later, for the eighth time when it was finally answered, by an unrecognized voice. He quickly told her the condition he had found the camp, and that he had feared he would arrive too late to join his brother, who had been here. As she hung up, Wanda knew her husband had been captured, along with the refugees and guards. Her only small comfort was that there had been no bodies.

Wanda immediately called a meeting with her new, smaller cabinet. Sturgis and Garrenett arrived with in minutes of her call and she quickly briefed then on the situation, before announcing that the already prearranged arrivals would be last to be allowed with in their waters.

She called the Guild after that to learn that though Mercy and the Thieves were coming Collette and the Assassins, aside from Collette's daughter were staying behind. The Assassin Matriarch had entrusted her child to Mercy. The arriving Thieves would land within an hour.

She then called the cabin, however, she was met with silence on the other end. She feared they may have been captured as her husband had, or worse. She then ordered the borders closed after the Thieves arrival. No one else would be allowed to enter, without her notice.

~o~O~o~

Lorna sat silently staring out of the window as a volunteer clean-up crew worked on the courtyard below. She was still unsure what the reaction of her punishment would be when the people found out, however, as she replayed it in her mind, she decided that it was a rational choice. She had no way of knowing who among her advisor had been the enemy, though she suspected still that it had been more than one of them, so she eliminated the threat.

Her sister's new cabinet was a far better choice. For one thing, she knew that these men weren't vocal enough to attempt to sway them into making any choices like the ones that lead to yesterday's attack. For another thing, she seriously doubted that either Wanda or herself would make the mistake of trusting again, not to that level.

Wanda came in while Lorna was watching the activity below, and explained what she knew of the Ivory Coast. Lorna cried, for what she swore would be the last time, over the loss of her brother in law. Everyone knew, when you were captured, the chances of anyone seeing you again were next to none. Though Lorna didn't point this out either when Wanda told her what happened, or when she sat with the girls as Wanda explained it to Luna.

Sturgis came in, while Wanda comforted the child, and waited patiently until the girl had calmed. He then informed her that the Thieves had arrived, and the borders were closed. Wanda thanked him, and asked that Mercy be sent to speak to her as soon as they had settled in.

Wanda then decided it was time for one last speech, before she sent the reporters away on their boat. She called them all together, announcing both that they would be given safe passage beyond their borders and that she required one final broadcast.

Everything was arranged, and she stood, thirty minutes later about to enter her balcony. The courtyard below, far less crowded than it was yesterday. Only the reporters, guards and a handful of Genoshians stood below, as she began.

"Yesterday. Horror struck our Island. On the anniversary of the greatest and worse event of Genoshian history. We were attacked, as I'm sure you witnessed with a bombing, in this very spot less than twenty hours ago. We were also invaded, by both the Dogs and the Master.

In response to the losses of over a hundred of our people, I regret to inform you all, until further notice, the Genoshian borders will be closed. No man, woman, or child will enter our waters. In response to the capture of our King, my husband, Kurt Wagner. If he is not returned to us, with in twenty four hours, unharmed, the spies currently sitting in our prison will be subject to a public execution right here in this very spot;. You have my only warning."

With that Wanda turned and walked back into the palace as a stunned silence settled across the crowd. Never before in Wanda rule, had there been such a threat. The reporters quickly packed their equipment, intent on leaving the Island as quickly as possible. The villagers looked around, trying to determine who the spies had been, grateful that it wasn't them. As the news that their King had been captured, the crowd grew steadily louder, their despair filling the halls of the palace.

~o~O~o~

Mercy waited silently in the Throne room for Wanda and Lorna. As the Matriarch of her own people, she knew how meetings could be delayed, especially in light of yesterday's events. She was surprised, however, when Wanda and Lorna entered the room a few minutes after she had arrived.

"My condolences" Mercy began as soon as the Genoshian leaders had sat.

"Thank you. I was sorry to hear that Collette and the Assasins would not be joining us on Genosha." Wanda replied.

"Not all of my Thieves arrived either. I have full confidence in Collette's ability to care for my people. As well as anyone can in these dark times. They chose to stay, volunteered to stay, both to protect our interests on the main land, and to continue to act as our ears in the situation there."

"Understood. Now I would like to formally invite you and your children to join us in the palace. The city is crowded enough and we have the room to spare."Wanda replied.

"Of course. Thank you." Mercy replied, as she stood to go gather her children. "I shall leave them here, in the care of your staff , while I settle my people, if that is acceptable with you."

"Of course. Thank you Mercy, for coming."

Mercy nodded as she left the room to take care of her children and then her people. Her children were not exceptionally small anymore, aside from her youngest daughter, and Collette's daughter. They really had no need for a nanny, so they were left, instead, in the care of Luna's tutor, until Mercy returned.

Her eldest two, Thirteen year old Clara and Ten year old Janna helped care for the younger four, as well as Luna. Clara immediately took charge, distracting her younger sisters with a complex game, as their mother slipped away.

Mercy quickly returned to her people, and explained to her own advisors the plan. They easily agreed that the safest place for their own 'royal' family was in the palace. She stayed with them, however, until everyone else's living arrangements were taken care of and her people had dispersed into the city.

~o~O~o~

The Priest silently watched the broadcast. Genosha had been drug down into the mud with the rest of the world. He honestly couldn't say he was surprised. It seemed to happen to them all eventually. Genosha had actually held out longer than anyone else, really.

With a heavy sigh, he switched the television off, then went to check on his charges. He had been here, in this hidden abbey, for the last two years, with them. Before that they had hidden in a chalet overlooking the sea for nearly three years. The number of his charges grew and shrank with the years, though he currently had ten. Ten orphans in his care between the ages of six and sixteen, all orphaned by Dog attacks.

These boys and girls were the reason he remained hidden, when every fiber of his being wished to strike back against these monsters that ruled their world. He had realized, however, nearly six years ago, caring for these lost ones was his calling. Who he had been and what he had done prior to that no longer mattered. He himself barely remembered what that had been.

For him, it all began with a single child, a girl no more than six, that he had found in the wreckage of her former home. He knew then, that he must rescue her, and then shield her from the horrors of this new world. From there his new calling, and little band of children grew.

Now he simply hoped that the world would take it's time remembering they existed. It was a flimsy hope, one that he knew was unlikely with every passing day the world growing smaller and smaller… and the baying of the Dogs clearly in the distance.

With a heavy sigh, the Priest joined the children downstairs, every light above extinguished, as they waited for morning and the children hoped the Dogs would stay on the far side of their mountain.

The newest of his charges, a six year named Hannah, began to cry when he walked in, terrified that the Dogs would find them.

"Shh. Hannah, it's okay. They won't know to look here with no lights." Kelly stated. She had been his first save, and she frequently comforted the smaller children, and sometimes the bigger ones too. "We are with Priest, he wouldn't let 'em hurt us, even if they did find us."

"That's right kid. I ain't gonna let em hurt ya, not as long as I'm here." Priest stated, as he tucked her into the bed next to six year old Beth, who was already asleep. "Now ya go ahead to sleep. I'll be up watching."

As Hannah slowly fell into a fitfull sleep, Kelly went to lay down as well. Priest would, true to his word, watch over them tonight. He had had no intention of sleeping himself, even before the little one had been frightened. Not with Dogs this close. Tomorrow would be soon enough to try to find a new place to hide the kids, for tonight the abbey would work. Or even possibly for several more days, he wouldn't press his luck with it however, the children's safety was his main priority. Not for the first time, he wished that he had taken them somewhere more secure, like Genosha, but then, that had been attacked as well; sometimes he wondered if there was a safe place left.

As he watched his children sleep, Priest began plotting their next move. He had just enough gas in the van to get them as far as a small town called Hanstead. After that, they would either find a new safe place or buy gas for the van. He would let them all sleep until close to dawn, then he would wake James and Clarissa to help him pack, possibly Gregory and Kelly too. It really depended on how close the Dogs came tonight.

As the children slept he began to pack, wandering silently through the halls of the abbey gathering the children's things and placing them by the doors, so that they could leave as soon as the little ones were up and fed. He finally made his way back to the basement, where the children still slept, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He divided his attention between watching the children and listening for any sounds upstairs.

~o~O~o~

Laura watched the children while he returned to the road, to bury the body, and collect anything that may be useful inside the totaled car. He drove the truck back the way he had come, not wanting to risk another run in the woods. He couldn't risk any Dogs following his path home. Not with all of the children left unattended.

After the mother was taken care of, he loaded everything from the car into the back of his pick up. He could sort through it and decide what was worth keeping at home, where he wasn't so exposed. The pick up was surprisingly close to full when he arrived at the cabin. He then honked, one short two long beeps so that they would know it was him, then began unloading everything.

When he came inside, the first thing he noticed was a flash of pink as Megan, still in her pajamas, rushed into his arms. He then asked her if she had eaten yet, when she nodded silently. He then asked if Laura had fed Kevin and Emily. Laura nodded, but was still pouting over his earlier reprimand. With a heavy sigh, he then told her to come help unload the truck. She nodded and reluctantly followed. They were able to quickly unload, even with him stopping often to listen for the Dogs.

"They're nearby aren't they?" Laura finally asked.

" Not that close, but closer than I'd like em ta be."

" Are ya gonna chase em off again?"

"Not until your Momma gets back. I would risk angering em with out someone to watch over you."

"Okay… but what're we gonna do bout them?" she asked pointing the other children.

"Keep em here. Protect them, raise then."

" What if the Dogs wanted em? They'd rip us apart to get to them."

"They'd have to rip me apart to get to you…and that would never happen."

"Okay." Laura replied. "But what if you aren't here?"

"…Then do what you have to, to keep yourselves and each other safe." He replied simply.

"Alright" the girl replied.

"If nothing else….if they get to close, we'll have to move on, but I don't think that'll have to be done."

Laura nodded, and went back to distracting the little ones, while he sorted through what he had salvaged. He disposed of the things that were clearly not the children's. He hoped his wife was on time, when she returned, or he may have to venture out before she got here. He hated the idea of leaving them unattended for that long, or calling attention to himself. Any change of routine may be noticed.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

additional author's note: Warning, this chapter contains descriptive violence

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_._

_**Chapter Four**_

_Unknown Location, Canadian Border._

He was a drifter, and as far as he knew, that is all he had ever been. He wouldn't really know however, because he was never sober long enough to remember a time before. He never stopped drinking, a constant supply of whiskey was his only true possession.

He stood by the side of the road hoping for a lift, it was very cold and very late; so it was doubtful that a ride would come, yet he walked the road anyway. Since he had started down this patch of road yesterday, he had only seen three cars… and none of them had been today.

With a heavy sigh he decided that he needed a drink, so he sat on a rock near the edge of the road and began digging through his bag. He ignored the woods behind him, if the Dogs were in there, they could take him, and no other creature had ever bothered him in this part of the world.

He had just found the bottle, when he heard the first growl. Sighing heavily at the bottle, the Drifter set it carefully back into his bag before he stood and looked into the trees. The growls grew closer, he stood ready.

They burst through the trees and he was mildly surprised, in the part of his mind that still could be, that there were so many this far out. Six Dogs approached him, Three of the blond, tall, former men on his left, and three huge blue creatures that looked more like cats or bears on his right. With a heavy sigh, he fell to a crouch, dropping his bag, and the whiskey, safely out of the way, just before the first Dog, a blond struck; three more of each coming out of the trees at the same time. With the first blow, he flew across the deserted street, landing with a heavy thud. They were on him before he could return to his feet, pulling at him, trying to get to his flesh as they ripped through his coat and jackets. Grunting, he pulled himself up enough to pull the sword from his side, then he slashed at the first Dog, cutting through it's arm, releasing himself as it roared in rage. He quickly turned to the second, slicing it across the face, and freeing his second arm. He twisted quickly, to turn to the ones ripping at his legs. In one movement of the blade, he had freed both of his legs, as well as liberating both Dogs from their hands. He knew that this would slow them but not stop them, and that they would be twice a vicious as the initial attack so he quickly jumped to his feet, as they once again circled him. The injured growl furiously, as the uninjured jumped forward to attack.

A blue one hit his right side, attempting to slice through his parka, as a blond hit his left side, and clawed through to his shoulder. He screamed in pain, as he first struck the blonde, removing an arm, then the blue making the first actual kill with a stab through the heart. He pulled his weapon free with a grunt as another blue jumped on his back, knocking him back off his feet, the blue was joined by two more, as well as another blonde on top of him before he could react.

With a growl of his own, he threw them off of himself, and flipped back to his feet. With a roar of rage, the injured all jumped in to join those that were already nearly on top of him. He figured this time, he may actually be out of luck, even as he sliced his way through the pack, stabbing several through the heart, or removing their heads, but the attack still felt endless. He briefly considered throwing down his sword and accepting his fate, when one of the blondes smacked him in the head with a branch.

This served to fuel his anger, as he took in the count. There were only three left, two blues and a blond. He went for the blond first, both because of the head shot, and they were harder to keep down. He sliced off the arm holding the branch at the elbow, then hit it's chest with the handle of the sword before it could react.

From there, he stabbed it in the throat, before continuing the slice and removing it's head. The two remaining blues roared with rage as he yelled in return "Come and get me, you assholes."

He hit the closer one first, taking it's other arm first, then slicing through it's stomach. The injury happened so quickly that the blue actually took three more steps forward, before its entrails slid out onto the forest floor. It stared shocked for a moment, before falling forward, as he stabbed it once more in the chest.

He then turned to the last blue. It growled as it crouched, he dropped as well as they circled each other carefully. The blue beast jumped forward quickly, feigning left then striking out. It managed to knock the sword from his hands, and was on him before he could react. They struggled on the ground for a moment, as he managed to unsheathe the hunting knife from his lower arm and stabbed the creature in the eye. It roared in pain and anger, and backed off of him, taking the knife with it. Then as it stood again, slowly, it pulled the knife from its eye, screaming a second time. It whimpered briefly before heading toward Drifter once more.

Suddenly, a truck appeared, out of it climbed a completely covered figure. The person rapidly dispatched the last Dog with a shotgun blast to the head, before helping him into the passenger side, grabbing his backpack on the way. After they were on the way, Drifter straightened, and looked over at his 'rescuer'.

"Thanks." He grunted.

"Don't mention it. What're you doing out this far anyway?"

"Just … drifting. And you?"

"Just passing through. They call me Wraith."

"Drifter."

They traveled silently after that, he slowly slipped off to sleep. Wraith glanced over once, sighing. It had not been part of the plan to pick anyone up, however, letting the Dogs rip someone apart… that just wasn't going to happen. Wraith or not, an innocent dying when it could be prevented, that was monstrous.

~o~O~o~

_Priest's Abbey_

The Priest had the children up and waiting by the doors of the abbey. He went to get the van, which was safely hidden behind the building, however, he refused to have them in the open long enough to walk around. He could still hear the Dogs in the distance. The children huddled around each other, the young ones clinging to the older ones.

He honked briefly, then threw open the back doors. They piled in quickly, and he pulled out before they were even all hooked into their seats, as the Dogs broke into the clearing. Little Hannah, seeing the monsters behind them, began to cry. Beth soon began crying as well, while Clarissa and Kelly comforted them, and James and Gregory watched out of the side and back windows. Mark distracted Daniel and the twins before they could start crying like the little ones.

Within a few minutes they had traveled beyond the Dogs, and could no longer hear the growls. The children calmed down a short while after that, and the little ones had fallen back asleep before they skirted the next town, twenty minutes later. He decided that it was far too close to the abbey to stop.

It was closer to midday before they found another occupied elder children began quietly playing cards in the back a few minutes after that, except for the eldest, James; who instead climbed forward into the passenger seat.

"Do you know where we're going?" James whispered after a few minutes.

"Somewhere safe." Priest replied.

"Are there still places like that? They hit Genosha."

"There are, you just gotta know where to look."

"…and you know?"

"It's what I do , what I need you to do is help me keep those little ones calm and quiet until we get there."

James nodded, and then watched out the window for a while, until they slowed at the next town. He looked questioningly at Priest, who just shook his head. They wouldn't be staying here. He had just decided, while they drove, that he had better buy supplies where he could.

Nearly everything in this region was desolate. Entire towns were gone, houses burnt and storefronts raided, the people who had lived there were either captured or dead. Sometimes put on display to warn others of what disobedience brought you. The elder children made a habit of keeping the little ones from looking out of the windows, especially as they approached towns.

This was likely the last standing town, such as it was, for miles. Priest therefore, needed to stock up. He not only filled the tank in the van, and the reserve tank, but also the gas cans that he kept in the back. He then went into the store and stocked up on non-perishables, before they headed back to the highway.

Hopefully, by nightfall, they would find somewhere 'safe', but if not, he would just keep driving, and stopping where he could, James, thankfully, was able to drive the van if he became too tired. He had decided that as soon as they settled into the new place, he was teaching Clarissa and Gregory to drive the van as well.

~o~O~o~

_Unknown Location, Southern Canada_

He jerked awake as the truck pulled to a stop, and sat up ready to fight. " Relax. We're just filling up. Nothing's wrong." Wraith stated, getting out of the truck.

"Where are we?"

"I Donno exactly, bout an hour from where I picked ya up. I'll grab a map while I'm in there."

"Okay" he replied before settling down to go back to sleep. Wraith sighed with relief, not wanting the potential complication if he had insisted on going in as well, before filling the tank and stepping into the station to pay.

After the clerk had accepted the money, Wraith stepped around the counter and then up the stairs, to see 'the boss'. The 'Boss' was sitting behind a large desk, completing the paperwork for the day, when Wraith stepped into the room.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"I don't need one." Wraith replied, while pulling out the dart gun. Before the Boss could react, a dart was in his neck. He was gone before the door closed. Wraith then calmly walked back down the stairs and out of the door without another word to the now frightened clerk. Within moments they were back on the road, the Drifter had slept through the whole thing. With a heavy sigh, Wraith pulled off the road again a little further down, to find a place to stay for the night.

Again the stopping of the truck woke him, and Drifter jumped to attention. "Where are we now?"

"Camping out." Came the reply from the bed of the truck, where Wraith was unrolling a sleeping bag under the camper shell.

"No motels in the last town?"

"No desire to stay there for any length of wasn't one of the free towns. Not that there are any in Death's territory."

"Wait. When'd we enter Death lands."

"Bout half hour ago. Don't worry though, no one's about tonight."

"If the boss of this region catches wind were here without papers, we'll be in for a fight."

"Nope. I heard in the store, boss man of this town had an accident. They ain't replaced him yet."

"Safest place in the world to be tonight then."

"Yes, until morning. Unless something happened to Death, it'll be quick. "

With that Wraith lay down, and fell to sleep before Drifter could reply. He sat there for a few minutes staring at the strange person who rescued him and wondered how Wraith had learned of the death of the boss in the town. Usually when one of the bosses died, the entire region was locked down with in minutes until the new one arrived. The only way you would be able to get out if you escaped within minutes of the loss. Therefore, the person would have had to be right there when the Boss died to escape…and be very lucky.

He stared once more at his rescuer, who was covered completely in black cloth, that was baggy enough that you couldn't honestly tell so much as gender until Wraith had spoken. How did a person dressed in such a way get in and out of what should have been a hot zone without any trouble? Eventually Drifter settled back to sleep, after deciding that it didn't really matter tonight.

~o~O~o~

_Undisclosed location, Cabin, Northern Territory_

He had gotten Megan, Kevin ,and Emily to sleep easily enough, but Laura was still up with him. She sat quietly in the corner, reading her book. At a glance he knew it was the one he'd taken from her before.

Before he could say anything about the book, she closed it. "I'm sorry, Dad. I know I shouldn't have gone outside this morning."

"No. You shouldn't have. Next time you think something needs to be looked at, come get me." He replied as he took the book from her again.

"I'm glad you found them though."

"I am too. That don't change anything Laura. It ain't safe out there. The Dogs are right outside. We don't want them to know we're here... And I certainly don't want you caught outside alone."

"I didn't think about it that way."

"No. You didn't think at all, or ya would have done it. Damn it Laura. You know the stories. You know what all we've lost. You were there! You have ta remember some of it."

"I remember. I remember it all, Daddy. I remember losing them all. But it was a baby…"

"And next time, if you make the same mistake I won't go as easy on you. As it is, no outside, no tv, and no games… not until your mother returns."

He then sent her to bed, telling her not to come back out before morning. Then he went to bed himself, after waiting to ensure that Laura actually stayed in her room. Just after he laid down himself, he heard them, the Dogs. They weren't far from the cabin, and they sounded angry. They must have somehow gotten wind of those kids and were looking for them.

He was back up, before the first howl ended and was at the front door watching before the answering howl sounded. He had covered their tracks, and was fairly certain that they couldn't be followed, however you could never be too careful. Especially concerning Dogs. He listened carefully, and was sure that they were going to go right past the cabin, when Laura walked up behind him.

"They've never come this close before." She whispered.

"We've never had this big of a pack before either." He replied with a low voice. " Don't worry, they aren't going to bother us."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because, they've already passed, and they have no reason to bother us. They don't know we're here."

"Still… they followed you this far in, didn't they."

"No Laura, and even if they had, I wouldn't have left the kids out there. It's going to be fine, go on back to bed. I'm staying up anyway."

The girl reluctantly returned to her room, as he pulled a chair closer to the only window in the front room. He watched carefully, but the Dogs never came into the clearing. Still, he watched until the sun rose, never moving except to pick up baby Emily when she began to fuss.

She fell back asleep in his arms, and he just held her. In a lot of ways it reminded him of when Megan was a baby. They would hold her as she slept so that she wouldn't cry and alert the Dogs to their location. Megan became theirs, his and his wife's, when Megan's mother Emma disappeared. She had only been less than two months old when Emma was lost. He didn't want to start down that memory though, so many had been lost starting with the farm. It's why they were here, because any more losses would destroy them.

He missed his wife now, though she'd only been away a few days, but so much had happened in that time. He knew they needed the supplies that were found to far from them to get and return in a single day; especially when traveling after dark was so dangerous. He wished, at times like these, that they had a way of contacting each other on the road. He was glad, however, that he had been the one who was home this time. The idea of his wife having gone out to rescue those babies, with the Dogs right on top of them, terrified him.

_~o~O~o~_

_Royal Palace, Genosha_

Wanda silently watched the children sleep for a few minutes before she shut the door and walked back to her own room, nodding to the night nurse and guards along the way. She just had to be sure the children were still safe in their beds after everything that had happened the last couple of days. She wasn't able to sleep, fear for her people and her children was keeping her awake, as well as fear for her husband. She knew it was likely that she would never see Kurt again; at least not the original Kurt. Everyone knew, even if they weren't saying it, that it is possible they would see a version of him again as a Dog… or worse.

She had no idea what she should tell the girls. Tallia, she was easy as an infant it meant nothing to her but Luna was very attached to her but she also loved Kurt, she spent nearly every free moment with him. This wasn't going to be easy, no matter what happened next. Luna had no real concept of what had happened yet and Wanda desperately wished that it could remain that way forever.

As Wanda sat staring out of the window of her sitting room, Mercy came in. She sat silently next to Wanda for a while before finally speaking. "I know wha' dis is like. T' have to tell your babies dat deir Daddy ain't neva comin back. I know dis is gonna destroy deir whole worl'."

"I'm sorry."

"I ain't askin ya ta be. Dat was long 'go an we knew dat when we came dey woun' all come back. I jus offerin ta help ifn I can."

"I know, it's just… we all thought some of them would return. Even the ones who drove back to the mansion that day, never really did though."

"I know. Remy was my brother, mais af'er dat, he wasn' Remy no more. De ot'ers dey be just as bad from wha' I heard. Maybe de lucky ones were de ones dey lef' in de tunnel, non?"

"Maybe so. But the rest of us got to keep going, the children deserve a better world than the one we have to give them now."

"Oui. Dey do at dat." Mercy agreed. They sat in silence after that, there was nothing more really to be said.

Eventually both women went to bed. Grieving widows or not, they were mothers and Queens first. Too many depended on them to give in to the depression. In the night though, they were free to be sad, to mourn the loss of what could have been, in another life.

Wanda went down to the infirmary a few hours later, when sleep still would not come. For so long Charles had been silent, it seemed like it had all been a dream that he'd ever aided their future. Now, however, she was desperate for answers. She would give anything for him to speak again. She worried that moving him had disrupted whatever it was that allowed him to speak to them, or maybe something happened to him in the years he'd been asleep, causing him to never wake.

Anything was possible, really. After all, she had no guarantee that the island would remain safe. Dogs had arrived once, what were the chances that it would happen again? When she arrived at the infirmary however, she found he wasn't alone. Her sister sat at his side, hoping like Wanda, that he would finally say something.

He remained silent as always, though; even when the sisters plead with him for answers. Either he was no longer able to talk to them, or he no longer cared. Either way, they were as on their own as they had been since that day in the tunnels. Finally the sister returned upstairs, as the household began to stir.

~o~O~o~

_ Laboratory, unknown location_

He woke with a start, in a dank and dark cell, fear gripping him. He no longer could tell day from night, or how much time had passed since he had been here. He barely remembered his name. Though the name itself meant nothing to him anymore, he tried to hold onto it. Somehow it seemed important to do so.

The reason for his sudden departure from sleep became apparent a moment later, when the guards through a lump that was clearly alive into the corner of his cell. He stood carefully, fearing some sort of test. The other didn't move though. He reluctantly reached out, and turned the figure over.

He could barely suppress a scream as he rushed back to the far side of the cell, then huddled under a thin blanket. The thing, he couldn't tell it's gender at first glance, wasn't conscious. At first glance he could tell that much anyway. He knew he needed to look again. At first, when he had seen it, he thought it must be an adolescent Dog, now though he wasn't so sure.

He stood again to get a second look, but his luck had played out. "Halt 456, return to your bed at once." A guard stated as he hit him with the electric shock from his collar. With a scream he collapsed, crawling painfully back to his corner. He once again glanced at the creature across from him, suddenly hopeful that it was put in here to kill him.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_._

_**Chapter Five**_

_Deathlands._

Drifter woke with a start. Something inside the truck had changed. He pretended to sleep for a minute while he got his bearings, and took an account of the truck. That was it, the cab was cold, and Wraith was gone. The rear door had been recently opened; the air was cold in here but not freezing. He sat up carefully and looked around.

They were still parked in the clearing, and no one was around… including Wraith. He glanced over and realized that she'd taken the keys too, where she went. He cursed loudly at the idea of being stuck so far in the Deathlands. He sat in the cab for a while, trying to decide what to do as the sun slowly rose, the sky had shifted from a deep purple to a light blue by the time he decided that staying here wasn't an option.

By then he had explored the clearing they had parked in the night before as well as the contents of the truck. There had been no clues as to where Wraith may have gone. He shrugged to himself, after locating his backpack, and tried to decide between taking the truck or walking, because he was unsure if Wraith would eventually return, and he would hate to leave his rescuer stranded. On the other had Wraith had basically stranded him, and in the Deathlands.

He had decided to walk, and had made it about three miles down the road, when Wraith pulled up in the truck."I take it you didn't find my note." Wraith stated before he could say anything.

"What note?"

"The one that said I'd be back with breakfast in an hour or two, and the keys were in the front left wheel well."

"No I didn't see it"

"I put it on your bag. It was on the floor of the cab when I came back, but since the keys were still where I left them, and the truck hadn't been moved, I assumed you hadn't. C'mon get in, we need to get going before the area locks down."

"Ya really left a note?"

"Yup. Still right where I found it if ya wanna see it."

He climbed into the cab, and sat back without bothering to look for it. Either he'd missed it before, or Wraith had forgotten and planted it, either way, he'd rather not try to hitchhike out of Deathlands if given the choice.

"So what'd ya grab for breakfast?"

"Egg biscuits, they're right there between the seats."

They drove for a while before he realized they were headed further into Deathlands, rather than out of it. He asked where they were going and Wraith stared at the road ahead for a very long time, before responding.

"I've got business to finish here. But I'll get ya out of here first if you'd like."

"Naw. I ain't got somewhere I gotta be, don' wanna take you outta the way."

Wraith nodded and drove on in silence. Drifter had nearly fallen back asleep, when they pulled to a stop in another little town. "Stay here, I just am gonna grab some drinks real quick."

"Okay." Drifter replied. He sat back to wait. Ten minutes later, he was beginning to worry and was about to go in to make sure everything was alright, when Wraith reappeared.

They were back on the road for a few minutes when he finally asked" So why'd ya pick me up anyway? It ain't like people do that anymore."

"… You remind me of someone I knew in another life." Wraith finally replied.

~o~O~o~

_Genosha, early morning_

Wanda was woken by her guard, who was urgently, but quietly calling to her. "Ma'am, you have to wake up , we must go." The man repeated, when he saw she was awake.

"What is it?" she replied, as she climbed out of bed, pausing long enough to grab her robe.

"They're in the city, and may breach the palace walls anytime. We must get you to safety." The guard replied as he rushed the half- asleep ruler from the room.

This news woke her immediately, her first concern was for her children, though he assured her they were already on the way to the safe room. They rushed through the palace as the sounds of the battle grew closer and closer.

Wanda reached the safe room just after Luna and her nanny, but before anyone else. Lorna and her guard arrived next (along with Tony), followed by the thieves' children. Wanda was attempting to leave in search of Tallia when the baby and her nanny arrived, as the screams began above. The guards grimly hit the button, sealing the door.

Mercy was the only one unaccounted for, and Wanda hoped the other woman was alright, as she held her own children and listened to the muffled battle above their heads. The LeBeau children huddled together, with Juliana, as they too listened to the battle rage. Lorna sat with them, as she wondered how the enemy had gotten back in.

Above the safe room, the palace guards defended the building, as the swarm of Dogs tore their way into the building. There were far more of the monsters this time, dozens of each of the four known 'breeds', as they entered the palace through doors and windows. The city itself was in tatters, nearly everyone injured, dead, or hiding. A few of the people, including most of the thieves, were fighting them still, however they were severely outnumbered.

Dogs were everywhere within moments, as Mercy and Garrnett led the guards in defense of the palace. With mounting horror, they watched man after man fall under the power of the insurgence, as the Dogs tore the people around them apart. Mercy was shoved behind her second in command, a young man named Louis who had inherited the position from his father a few years before, as a blond Dog, and a short, dark haired Dog approached them at once.

Before they could react, a Blue and a Female grabbed Mercy from behind, forcing an unintentional scream from her, as she was dragged further and further away from her allies. Garrnett cursed violently as he headed toward her, then again as he watched Louis fall before the Blond and Dark ones. Garnett wasn't sure if he would get to Mercy in time, but he wouldn't stop until he was beside her, dead or alive. Her children and her people deserved that much at least.

He was extremely thankful that the Family was in the safe room, beyond these monsters reach, as he fought monster after monster to get to Mercy. She meanwhile, was being drug further and further from the grand hallway where the battle had begun. She didn't waste her energy attempting to reason with the monsters. Though they looked like people she had once known, that was all they had in common with the originals. Reasoning with a Dog always ended in your death, everyone knew that. Instead she fought back violently, kicking and stabbing at the creatures as they drug her away.

She managed to actually hurt the Female with a lucky kick to the knee, however two more Dogs, both Dark ones, grabbed her before she could escape. She could feel their breath on her neck as she struggled, convinced that she was about to die, when the Master stepped into the room.

"Leave that one. She no good to us dead, find the bald man, and stop playing around." Master ordered. The Dogs grudgingly dropped Mercy and slouched from the room toward the stairs.

"Come with me." Master continued, pointing at Mercy.

"Kiss my ass." She replied as she struggled to her feet.

"Come with me, or the children do."

"… Screw you." Mercy growled as she stepped up next to him.

With a twisted smile,the Master grabbed Mercy's arm and lead her from the palace. As they walked over to the helicopter he turned to one of the Dogs. "Kill them all."

"NO! You said-"

"I said you come or they do,I never guaranteed their continued survival." Master stated coldly as he shoved the distraught mother aboard.

Inside, the battle still raged as Garrnett searched in vain for Mercy, and Sturgis handed out orders. They were making no real progress with the Dogs, everytime one was knocked down it felt like two took it's place.

Suddenly, Garrnett was taken by surprise, as a Blond came from behind a pillar, knocking him off his feet with a heavy swipe to his shoulder. Garnett attempted to stand, but was losing blood fast, and his right arm useless, the shoulder muscles torn beyond repair. The Dog did not spare him a second glance as it moved on to it's next victim.

All around the hall, the sounds of battle were fading into cries of pain as man after man fell to the Dogs teeth and claws. Sturgis looked around defeated, as he decided their only chance was to retreat to the sublevels and defend the helpless in the medical wing as well as the safe room.

He silently motioned to his remaining men, and with a nod of acknowledgement they slowly made their way downstairs, Sturgis the last one past the doors. He hesitated for a moment before typing in the code that was their last fail safe. A deep rumble shook the palace as granite blocks tumbled from their moorings on the hall's ceiling and pillars to block passage from the room.

No one would be able to enter the sublevels now, however no one would be able to leave them either, not without help. Resigned, he made his way to the safe room, to give his report to Wanda, it was going to be a very long time before they would be able to recover from this, if they ever did.

When Sturgis arrived in the safe room, after typing in his personal over ride code, he was greeted by the sounds of an on going argument. Hathorn felt his place was above with the other guards, helping to defend the palace. Wanda, and her guards, Krander and Polk, were arguing that his place was in the safe room defending the Princesses.

When they spotted Sturgis, tattered and covered in blood, they froze, before Hathorn once again pled with Wanda. "Ma'am please, allow me to return to the battle, I only wish to help beat back the Dogs before they can do more harm an-"

"It's too late for that." Sturgis interrupted. "There's nothing to be done up there, our only hope is to keep the Family safe until the Dogs move on."

"But" Hathorn began again.

"The fail safe has been triggered, did you not hear it? We are stuck down here one way or another until this is over." Sturgis said in a tired tone.

Wanda stood to talk to the exhausted guard, but as she approached him, she noticed the way he held his side and the blood pooling around his fingers. She wordlessly pried his hand away to look at his wound before ordering him to seek the doctors.

Above, the Dogs growled in frustration when they couldn't get past the boulders. They attempted to claw and lift their way through the rubble, but more rubble fell as they dug, leaving them with no head way. They grew louder and more violent as their attempts failed, beginning to snap and slice at each other.

The Master reappeared as a slab of granite fell, pinning a Blue underneath, and scattering the others, before they returned to the task. After the Master had watched for several minutes, and realized that their attempts were failing, he ordered them to pull out. He decided the best chance at getting in would be to wait until they came back out.

With that, he ordered the remaining Genoshians gathered for the pins, and who resisted were to be killed. The new orders ended the frustrated fighting amongst the Dogs as they headed back toward the city. The Master, meanwhile, spared a few more minutes looking over the heaped rubble to spot any potential weaknesses in the pile. Finding none, he sighed as he left as well.

Wordlessly he watched as dozens of people were escorted forcibly onto more helicopters before climbing aboard himself. The mission had not been a complete failure, they had, after all, captured one of the primary targets, the leader of the Thieves' Guild, it had been easier than he'd assumed as well.

There had been resistance, of course, when they began gathering these people, but that was to be expected. The Master would have been disappointed if they had all come quietly, after all they were the last significant resistance to His rein, and if they had been easy then it would have been a disappointment to have them surrender quietly.

He sat back with a sigh of contentment, the mission had been a success over all, the only missing target had been Xavier, and he was an afterthought. The real goal had been to crush these people's desire to resist. There was a time he had been like them, resistant to the Rule. He couldn't remember why however, it felt like another life. Really it had been another life, since he woke up to His voice calling him back from the void, he didn't really feel any connection to that old life, just vague memories.

He never bothered to think about it often, except for times like these. Because somehow both the Genoshian leader, and the Thieves' leader seemed familiar, like he had known them in the past life, one more than the other, but when he tried to remember it was blank. With a shrug he let the matter drop in his mind, there was no point in trying to remember these things. He then pulled out the built in computer to write up his report, that to would please Him. Sinister and He both hated having to replace Dogs, this endeavor had only cost them two, they would not need to be replaced right away.

~o~O~o~

_Deathlands, evening_

"… So… what business ya got that's takin ya further into this place anyhow?" Drifter asked finally after hours of silence.

"You do not really want to know. You _**think**_ you do, but knowing would get you involved in matters that don't have anything to do with you." Wraith replied, eyes never leaving the road.

"Okay… so then, why Wraith?" Drifter asked.

"Because…it fits." Wraith replied.

The conversation stalled out there, Drifter unsure what the responses meant, and Wraith uninterested in continuing the conversation. They hadn't past an occupied town in hours, and Drifter had wondered more than once where they may be headed, but felt that he most likely would not get a clear response if he asked.

He had run out of the alcohol, his personal tranquilizer, several hours ago, and was displeased to realize that he was completely sober. With sobriety came memories. Memories were not something he cherished. With memories came nightmares, not an unusual occurrence in this world, where nightmares ruled the world.

So he hoped that they ran across an occupied town soon. He'd even accept one that was ruled by Death himself as long as they had a liquor store, even a gas station, he'd settle for a gas station as long as it arrived before the nightmares. He was so occupied with these thoughts that he failed to notice how Wraith was staring at him. This was for the best, as he was still a little jumpy about this arrangement. He still didn't understand why he had been saved, or why they were still traveling together for that matter. Why was he still here? Wraith had offered to drop him off outside the Deathlands, yet he'd said no. He had no idea why…or why he felt like Wraith was familiar to him.

They began slowing as he was trying to decide how he knew the woman next to him, which shook him from his contemplation. He straightened and looked out of the window.

"We need gas while we can get it, do ya need anything?" Wraith asked as she pulled back on her ski mask.

"…Nope, I'm good. But I think I'll stretch my legs for a minute." He replied, not wanting to admit that he intended to hit the liquor store across the street. She had seemed very disappointed in him while he finished off his supply earlier.

She nodded briefly, "Please make sure you don't go far… they've had a lot problems in the area lately."

"Ya know, I noticed that." Drifter replied sarcastically before climbing out of the cab.

With a heavy sigh Wraith climbed out a moment later and pumped the gas before going to pay. She sighed again after that, suddenly having a travel companion was a complication, because she saw her target, entering the liquor store across the street. She could see that 'Drifter' was still walking up and down the aisles.

Now she was faced with a choice, so far 'Drifter' hadn't figured out the pattern as far as she knew, but if she followed the target in he would. She wasn't sure how he would react, but she knew one way or the other he would make a scene. On the other hand, in the years since this had started, a target had never escaped.

After another minute of thought, she sighed once more as she crossed the street. She silently entered the building, and looked around for both the Mayor and Drifter. Drifter hadn't noticed her yet, thankfully, and the mayor was standing next to the counter. Never before had she attempted this with witnesses, at least not the kind who had seen her face.

She shrugged and walked up to the counter, before stating to the clerk " I'm sorry, but would you happen to carry –" she was cut off when the mayor suddenly appeared to have a seizure.

She had injected the poison into the mayor's side as she brushed past him. Now she needed to grab Drifter and get out of here before anyone else arrived on the scene. He, of course had noticed the commotion at the counter and had started forward, bottles still in hand.

"C'mon, hun let's get outta here so they can take care of him." Wraith stated.

"But" Drifter began, but she dragged him from the store, tossing money on the counter as they walked past.

He wordlessly joined her in the truck and they were well out of town before he finally asked. "Care to explain?"

"…The Mayor just died, heart failure." She finally answered, refusing to look at him, or remove the ski mask, they were still too close to the town.

"How would you know that?" Drifter asked with concern and doubt in his tone, what had he gotten himself into here?

"Because… I killed him." She replied. " Just like the others."

"Why?"

"Someone has to stand up against them, no one is willing to. The least anyone can do is make their lives hard." Wraith replied gripping the wheel tighter, but not glancing in his direction.

"No one fights back." He huffed.

"Exactly. There was a time…but that was long ago now."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember before this started at all?" She asked, finally looking over.

"Try not to." He replied with a shrug. The before memories seemed the most painful, from the bits he'd remembered. Worse than when he'd been in that place. Just thinking about the place made him reach for the bottle at his feet.

"…Once. A long long time ago, there was resistance. It was small, losing most of it's veteran members before this was started. They called themselves the X-men."

"X-men? " He asked, something about the name stirred vague memories, deeply buried.

"They're like a fairytale now. Since most people never knew of them before all of this, they are largely considered a myth, like an urban legend." She began. " They fought Apocalypse… they fought for years, even after losing nearly everyone on both the Senior and Junior teams. They lost their leader, more than once, but finally the cost was too great, and those that remained went into hiding. Some went to Genosha, others went to what was left of their homes, but most just began drifting."

"But you believe in them?" He asked.

"…I was one of them, a long time ago."

After that they fell into an uneasy silence. There was really nothing more that could be said, but still he had so many questions that he wanted to ask. He watched as the landscape passed them rapidly by, trying to think of a way to break the silence, before it grew to great.

"You were too once." She finally stated, once again interrupting his musings.

"Was what?"

"An X-men." She replied. " The person I said you reminded me of? It was you, in another life."

"And that's why you picked me up?"

"…Yes." She nodded. "Don't worry, I ain't trying to recruit you. Like I said, the X-men are over."

"Then why?"

"Because, once upon a time we were X-men, we were a family, and we loved each other." She said with a sad smile. " You forgot. Most forgot. I didn't."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

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A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

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**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_._

_**Chapter Six**_

_Undisclosed location in the Northern Territory._

The baby's cry woke him from a restless sleep, he jerked up and looked around, no longer use to the sounds of an infant. A moment later, where the baby came from, and the events of the last few days returned to him, as picked the baby up from the basket next to him.

He then made his way to the front room of the cabin, while hoping the baby didn't wake the other children. He quickly made a bottle, and listened to ensure everything else was quiet before he sat in the chair by the window.

He sat there trying to stay awake as the baby drifted off. They hadn't heard or spotted any of the Dogs since the other night, therefore he had relaxed and gone to bed shortly after the children. So after he had the baby settled back down, he searched the house to ensure everything and everyone was where they were supposed to be.

Laura, Megan, and Kevin were all fast asleep in the girls' room. He had pulled out the trundle bed under the bunk bed for Kevin earlier, but now the boy was curled up next to Megan on the bottom bunk. He hoped the boy hadn't had a nightmare. Laura was sleeping peacefully on the top bunk, so the child couldn't have made any noise when he had moved. Laura was an extremely light sleeper. That was part of the reason why he had put little Emily in the room with him. That and he never did like leaving little ones all alone.

After he tucked Megan and Kevin back in, but didn't bother moving Kevin back to his on bed. He knew from past experience with the girls that the child would just move back to Megan's bed anyway. Then with a sigh, he returned to his own room, checked once more on the baby and returned to bed.

He was asleep again within a few minutes, once again reliving the events that ruined everything.

_Gambit and Wolverine stood in the wreckage of the medlab, staring at the carnage around them. How had this happened? It didn't really matter now. What mattered was that the others had left for Genosha a few minutes ago, and they had to find Beast before it was too late. Then they needed to bury their dead._

_A sound came from the hallway, the crunching of glass as someone walked down the hallway. The men glanced at each other, before silently moving to either side of the door. Wolverine extending his claws as Gambit readied his cards and extended his staff._

_As the figure stepped cautiously into the lab, both men pounced. But luckily pulled back just in time, as Rogue, battered and bloody, swayed before them. "I didn't find him." Was all she said before she collapsed to the floor._

_Wordlessly, Remy stooped down to check the girl. "Her wounds be healed, musta still been usin moi non? Mais I t'ink she jus' exhausted, an in shock."_

_He then picked her up and carried her to the remaining bed, before setting her down and turning to Logan._

"_We gotta find out what happened to her, fore we go take care of this." Logan said, gesturing around them._

"_Oui. We can' leave her alone like dis. De longer we wait, de harder it be ta pick up de trail. You go. Find de Beast, I stay wit her." Remy replied. _

_Logan nodded, not liking the plan, but agreeing that it was their best choice before heading out to search for their friend, and answers to why this had happened. Remy meanwhile, looked around the lab. Sitting idle would drive him insane, he hated labs to begin with. Then after what had happened over the last few days, it made his dislike even worse._

_He began sweeping and picking up the lab, doing his best to ignore Kitty, Alice and Crystal under the sheets in the operating room next door. Wolverine and he had removed the MRD agents to the lawn and piled together next to the front gate. However, they hadn't done anything to clean the mansion aside from boarding up the broken window upstairs. Before anyone returned Remy wanted to check the security systems to find the fault that had caused that shutter to stick. _

_He worked steadily on the lab, first sweeping, then straightening, and finally mopping until it had returned to it's former sanitized state. He was still restless, concern for the girl and desire to join Logan in the hunt warring with each other. He refused to think about her statement before she had collapsed, if she hadn't found the baby, not even his body, then what had happened? Dwelling on it wasn't going to help him though. Finally, with nothing left to do, but refusing to leave her alone in the lab, Remy sat back down to wait._

_Wolverine had tracked the agents back to their base and was crouched outside, waiting for an opening to find a way in. He had no way of knowing exactly where Hank was, and attacking without that information was bound to end badly for his friend. He'd already lost enough people over the last few weeks._

_The lack of activity surrounding the MRD compound concerned him. Either they had already abandoned the base or they were expecting him. Either way, he decided he needed a close look to be sure. Slowly he stood, focused on the base and buildings around him in search of an ambush, as he headed back toward the fire escape._

_Wolverine never heard anything, suddenly everything went dark as he was hit from behind with a dart from a sniper a few rooftops away. The men quickly rushed to him and bound him before he could recover._

_Rogue finally began to stir and Remy was on his feet in an instant. He was hovering right above her as she opened her eyes. As soon as she saw him, her eyes filled. "I-I'm sorry. I tried, b-but I couldn't find him anywhere. I looked and looked." She said as the tears flowed down her cheeks._

"_Shh, Cher. I know. I saw you go after dem," Remy comforted as he hugged her to his chest, attempting to comfort the girl._

"_The tunnels collapsed, but I kept searchin. I followed him as far as I could, but I lost him." She responded, her voice muffled by his sweater._

"_I know."_

"_No! You don't know, that what I'm tryin ta say. The baby…he's still alive, somewhere Remy, I could hear his cries.I tried ta get ta him, but Sinister took him somewhere…and I couldn't follow. The door closed and wouldn't reopen." Rogue said, struggling to sit up._

"_Where was dis door?" Remy asked._

"_It don' matter none. It wasn't a normal door. It could open ta anywhere." Rogue replied with a sniffle. _

_Remy nodded again. His son was alive somewhere. Where was the question? And why? Right now though, he knew they wouldn't find the answers. He needed to make sure she was alright before he once again began the search. He couldn't just leave her here by herself after everything she'd been through, and she wasn't strong enough to come with him yet._

_Hopefully Beast and Wolverine returned quickly. However, he was going to refuse another team rescue attempt. He should have said no to begin with. No matter what Logan said, the blood of all those men was on his hands._

_Rogue finally settled down and drifted back into an uneasy sleep. He sat with her awhile longer, but was feeling restless again. He quickly jotted a note reading "__Went to clean up the foyer, I'll be back, stay in bed"__ before he went upstairs._

_He started, as he said in the note, in the foyer, again sweeping the glass and sanitizing everything. Clearing up Alice's blood was terrible; he scrubbed long after the stain was gone before finally climbing back to his feet. These people were monsters, how else do you explain them intentionally shooting a teenager and a new mother amongst all the possible choices? He was sure they would have done the same to little Luna and Laura had they been given the chance._

_This line of though did nothing to help his restlessness, all he really wanted to do was be out there searching with Logan for Beast, or trying to track his son. At the thought of his son, Remy groaned and began attacking the mess in the kitchen. He wanted to go in search of the baby, but knew that he couldn't just leave Rogue here, she seemed to be shock, or possibly injured in a way he couldn't see._

_The entire bottom floor was finished and he had cleared the hallway of the second floor when he heard a throat clearing behind him. He jumped to his feet in attack mode, shocked that he hadn't heard the approach._

_He relaxed when he saw Rogue standing there, shoeless. Of course, having absorbed him and kept such a strong impression it was no surprise she could move soundlessly through the house. "I tol' you t' stay in bed." Remy stated._

"_Ya also said you were cleaning the foyer, this ain't the foyer. How long ago did Logan leave?" Rogue replied._

_Startled Remy glanced at the clock, then outside. Night had fallen while he had scrubbed; he had been at it for hours. Taking that as her answer, Rogue nodded silently, before passing him into their room._

_He followed her in, wondering how Logan would react to him wanting to remain her roommate…at least for now. In light of the recent attack, and what had happened in the Tunnels, Remy didn't think he'd be able to sleep if she was somewhere else. Of course, he also wasn't sure if she still needed him nearby either, honestly he couldn't tell how strong his phyche was still. He didn't think asking right now was a good idea._

"_Logan shoulda been back by now…or at least checked in." Rogue stated, as she dug through the closet._

"…_What are ya planning Cher?" _

"_We're gonna go find 'im. Then we're gonna go back to that door and break our way through and find Jean-Luc. After that, I ain't gotta plan."_

_She pulled out a spare uniform and glanced at him. "C'mon. Suit up." She said as she walked into the bathroom._

_He shook his head as he changed himself. He recognized the tone, he used it often enough himself. If he tried to argue, she would just go alone._

_Logan shook himself awake, and realized right away that he had been captured. He was unsure how it had happened; after all it was hard to get the drop on the Wolverine. He must have moved slightly, or they were watching his vital signs, because a voice above him began "Ah good, Logan, you are awake."_

"…"

"_We've been attempting to get ahold of you and your men for a long time now."_

"_What do ya want, a metal?" Logan growled._

"_No, we alrady have it." Came the reply as the faceless man stepped further into the shadows to allow another to walk into the room._

_Logan smelled him immediately and ground out with a growl "Sinister."_

"_Essex." Sinister replied._

"_What do you want? "_

"_I want. Well I already have what I want actually." Sinister replied. " Get him ready. I'll check on the other one."_

_With that Sinister walked out of the room, and a pair of orderlies walked in. Wordlessly they held him down while the unnamed doctor injected him with something. A wordless growl came from Wolverine as he threw the orderlies off of himself, slicing through his restraints and rushed for the door. Surprisingly, no one sounded the alarm as he ran through the building in search of Beast and the way out. He found neither as the injection began to take effect. Within moments he had once again slipped away._

_Logan woke again much later, as they dumped him in a heap on the floor of a cell. He groaned as he sat up and looked around. The cell was tiny, and had no windows. Before he could examine it further, a voice from the next cell called out to him by name._

"_Who's there?" Logan replied._

"_It's me, Hank."_

"_Any idea where we are?"_

"_No. I am afraid I was drugged at the time"_

"_Do you have your tracker still? I know you did before I was grabbed."_

"_Yes. Although I considered crushing it. I do not want any of the younger ones following."_

"_There aren't any left. Just Gambit." Logan replied. He didn't mention Rogue in case someone was listening._

"_Sinister's here. From what I understand of the conversations I overhead, he is apparently the Director." Hank responded._

"_What?!"_

" _Sinister is Dr. Essex, who is the Director of the MRD." _

"…_Shit." Logan responded, surprised._

_Before Hank could respond the guards returned to the corridor. A moment later they drug an unconscious Beast down the corridor and out of Logan's sight. Logan had screamed and threatened them in an attempt to distract them from his friend, but they had ignored him completely._

He jerked awake, hating the dreams of that time. In some ways they were worse than what came after. With a sigh he sat up, he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep now. Instead he did another circuit of the house, checking in on all of the sleeping children and then went to watch the window again. These dreams also always made him paranoid.

_Abandoned warehouse_

Priest sat watching his children sleep. He felt bad that the best he could find was a drafty warehouse, but none of the houses they had passed were secure enough. The children took it in stride; they were unfortunately used to having to cope with substandard conditions.

He wanted to find them something better tomorrow, which is why he hadn't let them unload the van, he simply pulled it inside the building and helped them pull out sleeping bags. After James and Clarissa prepared their dinner, the children all quickly fell asleep. He knew he should try to do the same, so that he would be fit to drive tomorrow. However, he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that everything had gone bad.

Something had sifted, he wasn't sure what, but no matter how far they traveled he could feel it. It wasn't just the large tracts of abandoned towns, though those didn't help, it was more of a feeling that their time was running short.

He couldn't explain really where this feeling was coming from. Yes, he'd heard of the attack on Genosha but it didn't explain it. Genosha was far from where he and the children were that it shouldn't affect them.

He stood with a sigh and walked around the perimeter of the warehouse again, to ensure there were no holes someone could slip through, before he finally settled in to attempt to sleep. He thought briefly, about waking James to have him stand watch, but didn't want to frighten the child. Besides if something were to happen, he himself would be awake before anyone got in.

He drifted into an uneasy sleep, but was woken quickly and repeatedly throughout the night by the shifting of mumblings of the children. Every time he listened carefully, but it was simply the little ones, who were as restless as he was. As the sun rose, so did he with a heavy sigh. There was no point in attempting to sleep any longer. By the time the children began to stir, twenty minutes later, he everything but their sleeping bags secured into the back, and breakfast ready for them.

James and Clarissa helped the smaller ones get ready for the day, as Greg and Kelly helped Priest load up the van. They were ready to go with in five minutes and sat to eat before they go. As they sat together, huddled close in the morning cold, they froze. The chilling growls of Dogs right behind them.

As one, Priest and the four eldest stood and surrounded the little ones, who had also jumped to their feet, and a couple began crying. Priest couldn't tell who it was and couldn't spare the moment to look back at them. "James, girls, get the kids to the van now. Greg watch their backs."

Wordlessly, the children moved as one toward the van, as Priest prepared to stand guard. What came at them, though shocked even him. He'd heard the rumors… he just hadn't wanted to believe them. Thankfully this was the first time the kids had ever faced this one either, because amongst the Dogs, was him. Or at least a copy of him. Three copies to be completely accurate.

Worse, these seemed to be the leaders of this pack. He glanced behind him as the children jumped into the van, James calling out to Kelly. "C'mon hurry up!"

Kelly however, was frozen in place. She stared aghast at the monsters before them, some of which looked exactly like the man she regarded as her father, with a sinking realization. They were all doomed, this is what she had decided. Because she had known Priest almost half her life, and she knew that once he decided to do something, he was unstoppable. These…_**things**_ were him. How were they to outrun that?

"James, get them outta here! Go to the safe place, and don't stop for anyone, even if it's me." Priest yelled to the eldest boy.

James nodded and pulled at Kelly not wanting to waste any more energy arguing with her, they were out of time, and he had to get the little ones out of here, even if it meant leaving her behind.

With a final tug, he finally got the girl moving as the first of the Dogs rushed Priest. Priest was doing his best to buy them the time they needed to get out of here; he glanced once more at his 'children' and then jumped into the battle.

He quickly dispatched one of his look alikes, and two of the females, before one managed to slip past him, with six more surrounding him in a way that prevented him following. The lone Dog rushed at the teens making their way to the van. Instantly, James knew they weren't going to beat the creature to the door. " Cari! Gun it, get the babies outta here, I'll catch up!" James screamed as the Dog descended on them.

Clarissa reluctantly started the van, and tore out of the warehouse leaving three members of her make shift family behind, and listening over the wails of the children for any danger. Luckily, the Dogs seemed preoccupied at the moment, though the thought of what was distracting them nearly brought the girl to tears. The only thing holding her together at this point was keeping the little ones safe. Finally several miles down the road, Gregory and Mark had managed to calm the younger ones down enough to stop screaming, though Hannah still sobbed brokenly, as she clung to Mark.

"T-th-they, they, l-l-looked… those blonde ones were Father!" Hannah yelled, before burying her head in Mark's shoulder.

He patted the young girl, in an attempt to calm her down, as he glanced at the others. Beth appeared to be in shock, while Daniel and the twins clung to Gregory. He had no response to offer Hannah, he had been just as shocked as she was, when he'd seen that.

Priest, meanwhile, screamed in rage and a pain born in grief as he helplessly watched two of his children fall. His rage tipped the scales enough that suddenly, the wild angry part of him that he had managed to keep bottle for so long broke free.

With an animal like rage he tore through the enemy forces, destroying them all, as more poured in from outside. He fought wave after wave in an attempt to get to the teens, fighting ferociously all enemies equally. When he finally arrived at the children's side, he realized immediately that it was too late, and just as quickly, Sabretooth was reborn. With a vengeful cry he tore out into the wilds in search of the enemies who had stolen his children from him. He needed to find his other children, this was his only coherent thought, though it was mostly drown in bloodlust.

_Cell, undisclosed location_

Prisoner 456 stared at the blue man across from him. So far all the creature had done was sleep, and occasionally eat, when they threw them their rations. It had yet to speak and he couldn't decide if he wanted it to. He had relaxed slightly when the thing had risen the first time and made no move to hurt him, but he still didn't trust it. Why was it here? Why his cell, there were always plenty of empty ones, so it didn't make sense, unless they were trying to set him up somehow. The creature had not once looked in his direction. He had made sure to sit in the far corner, and remain silent, so perhaps it just didn't know he was here.

Until that thing had arrived, he hadn't realized he had any self-preservation left, but when face with what appeared to be a Dog-in-training, he suddenly felt the need to remain safe and hidden. However, this feeling was now warring with curiosity because somehow this monster looked familiar.

It began to stir, and he made the decision. He cleared his throat before he could change his mind, and the creatures head whipped in his direction. Judging by the wide-eyed expression he had been correct that it hadn't noticed him before.

"Bobby?!" It said in an almost familiar tone.

"Who?" 456 responded confused and suddenly wishing he had kept quiet, because the name was familiar, and the voice sounded like it came from Before, but thinking about Before was bad. He had witnessed many others lose their sanity or their lives by dwelling on it.

"Bobby, it's me Kurt." It replied moving closer to him.

"I am Prisoner 456. That is all I have ever been or will ever be. It is only through the grace of Our generous Leader that I am allowed to live and only through the amusement of the great Doctor, that I am allowed the use of my legs, before I received their favor I was nothing, and if I were to lose it, I would return to nothing." He recited. This was the speech he had been given many times, early on, when he had still been rebellious, he had learned though, and so would this creature.

Kurt sighed heavily as he looked at his former friend. Whatever had happened to him in here, he no longer remembered who he was. Kurt swore to himself though, that he would find a way, to help Bobby, and everyone else in here.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_._

_**Chapter Seven**_

_Genosha, safe room, Royal Palace_

Wanda was restless. They hadn't heard anything for hours, and she was concerned for her people. She knew her children, as well as the LeBeau children were safe, but had no idea how well everyone else was doing, though she feared they were all dead or captured.

Genosha was in ruins. The last safe place was gone. She didn't have to escape the safe room to know that. However, she did need to get out of here to ensure the others outside of Genosha knew what happened here.

She paced the room, over and over as she listened carefully for activity above them, but heard nothing. Eventually she announced "Everyone, stay here, I will check on the situation."

She ignored the immediate protests to send someone else and walked calmly out of the door. When she reached the end of the corridor she sighed with frustration, before hexing the debris in front of her. A small hole crumpled just big enough for her to climb through, and she quickly ascended to the main hall.

Once there she immediately wished she hadn't. There were bodies everywhere, both her own people, and a very few enemies. As she slowly walked through the room she came across Garrnett who was amazingly still alive and awake.

"They left M'Lady. All pulled out a while ago. Not sure how long, I believe I may have fainted for a while." Garrnett informed her without her having to ask.

"You need to be seen."

"Others may need it more."

"No, Alan. I want you in the hospital wing now." She replied, helping him shakily to his feet. He stopped protesting then, when he realized how light-headed he really was.

He hadn't really realized until then how injured he really was; but with his head spinning and the amount of blood on the floor where he had been, he realized that he needed the doctor. Wanda slowly helped the man downstairs, where she also checked on Sturgis.

Sturgis was doing better after some stitches and painkillers, so she left again back to her mission. She had to know how bad it really was, however, after what she had seen upstairs she didn't hold much hope in finding survivors. She hoped some, if not most of her people were able to get to the city's safe zone, but with the attack beginning just before dawn she wasn't sure how many would have made it.

She did decide not to venture into the city itself without her guard though, after all three pairs of eyes were better than one. First though, she headed to her rooms, to look for herself from the balcony how bad things appeared.

She stood on her balcony five minutes later, crying freely , at the sight of the ruins of Genosha. Her city and people were gone. Everything had been torn apart or burned and she held little hope of finding survivors in the wreckage. Even if they were out there in the city, what were they going to do? There wasn't enough of the city left to rebuild, it would take years, even with Lorna's help.

They were going to have to evacuate, but where was another question. There were no other safe havens left, Genosha had been the last hold out for the last three years. New Orleans Guilds were a safe zone, but they wouldn't be able to house the Genoshians, plus there was a reason they had sent most of their women and children here, because they were about to fall as well.

With that Wanda realized that she needed to contact Collette and explain the situation, after all her daughter and her daughter's cousins were here in Wanda's saferoom. Wanda didn't want to make the call, not for the first time in the last few days, she wished her father was still around to help. She was sure that this wouldn't have happened if he had been, and felt that she had failed her people… and her children.

~o~O~o~

Wraith and Drifter had just entered the dinner when the news of Genosha's downfall was broadcast. Niether was still hungry hearing the news, but to avoid drawing attention to themselves they sat silently and finished their meals.

When they returned to the truck, Drifter asked. "Where to now?"

"…I'm going home. My family needs me there with them at this point if everything's going to hell." Wraith replied, starting the truck. "… You can come with me."

"I'm not really the stay in one place type."

"You never were. Unless you were needed."

"Still"

"Okay, I'll drop you on the way, in the first free city."

"There aren't any left."

"Probably not. But there's safer zones."

They drove in silence after that as they left the Deathlands and came to a small town, that actually had people still there. She pulled over at a gas station to let him out, sure that he could find a ride from there.

He hesitated, hand on the door, before asking. "So if you used to know me, and I was part of your…group… Would you tell me something?"

"I'll try."

"…What was my name?"

"… You've had many names, I'm not sure which one will help you." She began. "When I first met you, you went by Logan. Just Logan, and you couldn't remember who you were. When you fight, you go by Wolverine. The Professor said that you were born James Howlett. I hope that helps."

"…And who are you? I mean really." Drifter/Logan asked.

"Does it really matter anymore?" she replied. "Giving out to many secrets is a dangerous game anymore, you know."

"I think it always was."

"… I'll ask once more. Do you wanna come with me?" she replied intentionally avoiding his question.

"I want answers. You have 'em, so it seems like I ain't got much choice." He grumbled, moving his hand from the door.

"No one's gonna make ya come with me. I'll give you as many answers as I can on the way to the next town. You can decide there what you wanna do. I should tell you right now though, I don't know anyone who can give you the answers to your past. I certainly never knew it."

With that she restated the engine and began down the road. After a minute she said. " Okay. So how much do you know or remember about the X-men?"

"I know they were real good at hidin, I don't remember anything really."

"Do you remember Charles Xavier?"

"…No."

"He created the X-men, and lead them, for a time, then handed the reins over to Scott Summers. He was still around then, just Scott lead the team. The everything started going bad. Jean was lost, and Scott disappeared. The Professor was injured and in a coma. You then became the leader."

"I what?"

"You were the leader. For over a year. Then everything went from bad to worse."

"Mind explaining that one?"

"Not Really."

He stared at her for a few minutes while he waited to see if she was going to explain anyway. Eventually she sighed heavily, then began again. " It started with Sinister stealing a child."

~o~O~o~

_The Cabin_

Father watched The children playing on the floor. Laura sat beside him waiting to see if he would tell he what had happened. He had received another call a few hours ago, and since then he had been silent. She had tried to ask what was wrong, but to no avail, he wouldn't respond to the question at all, not even with his usual 'You're too young to worry about such things.' so she knew, whatever it was it was bad.

"Watch the little ones, while I prepare dinner, please." He said a few minutes later.

"Can we go to the yard?" She asked.

"NO. Absolutely not. The Dogs, they may still be close."

"Father, they never linger."

"They don't attack during the day either, but now they do. I won't risk you Laura, not any of you." He replied.

She nodded, frowning, before returning her attention to the children. They were her siblings now to, she supposed. Therefore it was her duty to protect them all, not just Megan, should something happen to her parents. She hoped the call hadn't been about her mother. Though she supposed it would explain why her father wouldn't tell her anything

Unaware of his daughter's musings, he remained silent as he tried to process the situation. He's received the call hours ago, yet was still shocked. Genosha was gone. He kept expecting to wake up to learn this was all a nightmare. But then, he'd been hoping for that for only part of this he would never take back was his family. The only part.

How was he going to explain this newest development to Laura? She acted so grown sometimes, but she was really just a child. For now, he decided, he would say nothing. Dinner was finished by the time he had come to this decision so he was completely shocked when Laura asked him point blank " Is something wrong with Mom?"

"No, not at all, why would you think that?"

"Because ever since that call, you've been upset."

"Laur, trust me that has nothing ta do with us." He replied, hoping the child would then drop the subject.

"Then why were you upset?" Laura persisted.

"If it were something I thought you, or your sister should know, I would have told you already." He replied with a tone that screamed for her to drop the subject.

This time the girl took the hint, and asked instead. "So then, when should Mom be home?"

" Soon." He replied.

"Have you heard from her?"

"No."

"Okay." Laura responded with a slight pout. Though she had long ago accepted that somehow her parents were connected, in that they could always answer that question correctly when she asked, she recently began to wonder_** how**_ they always knew.

"Everything's fine. We will all be together again soon, and I doubt that either your Mom or I will need to go on another run anytime soon." He told the annoyed girl.

Kevin watched the exchange curiously, while he continued to eat. Megan had told him a lot about her Mom, who was going to help take care of him and Emily from now on, but he didn't really understand where his Mom and Dad were that they wouldn't be back for him and his sister.

This in turn frustrated and terrified the child. What if the new people changed their minds about letting him stay? It had happened lots of times when he was with his parents, where some people would let them in, only to make them leave a few days later. Now that he was alone though, what would happen to him, if they didn't want him anymore?

With these thoughts once more racing through his head, Kevin suddenly began to cry. Megan looked over, alarmed at the sudden reaction, and Laura frowned in sympathy.

"Now, now, it's alright. Whatever is wrong, we'll fix it, okay?" Father said as he gathered the crying boy into his arms.

In a hiccupping voice, the boy explained what had scared him as Father held him, and gestured to Laura to take the others to the bedroom. After a few minutes, he had managed to calm the boy down again, and took the child chin gently in his hand to make Kevin look at him.

"I know that allota bad things have happened to ya, you probably have seen far more than anyone should. But you an Emily are here now; I ain't going to let anything happen to you, I certainly ain't going to kick you out." Father said. "Neither is my wife, when she gets back. We're going to take care of you from now on. Promise."

"Bu-"

"No buts. You're here to stay. "

He then hugged the child to himself, knowing full well this won't be the last time the little boy gets scared. He'd been through this before. Laura was the same way when she was little. Luckily, Megan, and probably Emily, never had this issue. Age had a lot to do with that. Megan didn't remember a time they didn't live in the cabin in the woods, thankfully. Hopefully neither would Emily. Just as hopefully Kevin would eventually accept them as Laura had. Meanwhile, he would do his best to calm the child's fears.

~o~O~o~

_New Orleans, Bordeaux Mansion._

Collette continued to stare blankly out of the window. The entire point of sending her daughter away, much to her own dismay, was to protect Juliana. But now Genosha was destroyed, the safety net that she had counted on to protect her baby was gone, and she had no idea how to get her daughter home.

At least her baby was safe though. Which was more than some of her people had right now. Hell, it was more than any of her people had. Because the people of Genosha, every man, woman, and child was either dead or on their way to the pens… Including Mercy.

Wanda had called her personally a few hours ago, she had put Juliana on so Collette knew her daughter was safe for now, but they needed a plan. The only thing Collette couldn't figure out was why they took Mercy. Normally they killed the Baselines and low-levels, yet Mercy was captured. In fact, it was Wanda's understanding that Mercy had been intentionally sought out.

By the time the sun set, and the nocturnal animals had risen, Collette had decided on a plan. First and foremost, she was collecting her daughter and nieces, then she was going to hunt down and destroy Sinister/Apocalypse's regime. She was going to need help for the second part, but enlisting it could wait. For now she needed to focus on the children.

With the plan in place she was on the move. She still had to explain to her men, and Mercy's men, what had happened. Then they needed to retrieve the children, and Wanda's people if possible.

This wasn't the first time her people had been devastated by these monsters' actions. At least last time however, they were lost in a battle that everyone had known they wouldn't all be back from. This time, their children and wives had been attacked in their beds, unprovoked and without warning. This time was unacceptable.

~o~O~o~

_Cell, undisclosed location_

Prisoner 456, formally known as Robert (Bobby) Drake in another life, sat staring at the wall. Ever since the Blue man had reminded him of who he used to be the memories were returning. Largely, they were unwanted. After all, he had forgotten many traumatic events as well as wonderful ones.

He remembered now the expression on his father's face when he learned his son was a mutant. He remembered seeing the school for the first time. The day the school was destroyed. Meeting Kitty. The yearlong battle against Magneto and the MRD, Gambit coming to the for help. The battle at the farm. Then he remembered the attack of the school, Kitty's passing, being moved to Genosha.

What he couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried, was how he had ended up in this cell. After informing him of who he used to be, the blue man, whom he now recognized as his friend and teammate Kurt, seemed content to lay on his own bunk in silence.

"How did I get here anyway?" He finally asked.

"… You, Emma, and Ororo insisted on returning to the mainland, so you and several others took Charles and returned to the mansion. At the time everyone hoped that by taking him, we would be reconnected and he's be able to help again. Anyway. None of the three of you were fit to be there really. I'm not entirely certain of the details as I wasn't there, but you were captured during a second raid. Emma was captured during a battle about a year later, and Ororo was captured a couple of months after that, while on a shopping trip. Nearly everyone who traveled back with you has since been captured or killed. " Kurt replied.

"So, no hope of the X-men rescuing us?"

"No X-men left at all."

"What do you mean?"

"They're all gone; dead, captured or in hiding every last one of them." Kurt replied finally sitting up.

"So you haven't heard from anyone? In how long?"

"I didn't say that. I hear from some of them from time to time. It's been years Bobby. I think the last of them ran off about three or four years ago."

"How did this happen, what about Xavier?"

"Xavier's gone, just an empty shell for all we know. He han't spoken to anyone since before the Tunnels. It happened because there weren't enough of them, or enough places to hide. The attack were quick and we were caught unprepared. It just kept getting worse. We lost Logan, along with nearly everyone else years ago."

He just sighed in response. Some of this he knew he should remember, but he didn't. Like What Tunnel battle? It must have been after the Farm and it couldn't have gone well with the way Kurt spoke of it, but he didn't remember really. He knew somehow someone invaded the school, only because he kind of remembered shouting outside when Kitty died.

Before he could ask anymore questions however, they both heard the sounds of the guards walking down the hallway outside of their cell. Cringing in fear, 456 hid under the thin cover on his cot, attempting to be invisible. Bobby Drake had been a person of purpose and strength. He would have and did give his life to protect others. Prisoner 456 was a shell of this person. He acknowledged that, because as far as he was concerned, Robert Drake must be dead. He certainly wasn't going to save anyone anytime soon, not even himself.

Whatever questions he had intended to ask about his old life were forgotten when he realized they no longer mattered to him. All that mattered anymore was trying to stay alive. Some days even that felt like a lost cause, yet still he tried to hide, every time.

Though he felt a twinge of guilt for it, he couldn't help but be grateful when they took Kurt out of the cell instead of him. At least for today he was safe then. Shuddering at the idea of what would most likely happen to his friend, he rolled himself into his blankets and tried to sleep.

Kurt attempted to struggle on his way down the hall, however they had him bound tight, and he, along with every over prisoner, was equipped with a power suppression collar. When he nearly slipped his guard, despite these precautions, he was hit sharply in the back of the head with the rifle.

Kurt was unconscious before he hit the ground. They picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to the lab in silence. None of the other prisoners ever bothered to look out of the windows in the doors anymore. They, like 456, were broken completely.

~o~O~o~

_Van, Priest's children_

Clarissa continued to drive, long after the sounds of the Dogs had faded. She had a vague idea where the 'safe place' was supposed to be, but had never been there herself. She glanced over at Mark, wondering if she should ask him, after all that was where Priest had found him.

On the other hand, how safe could be if it was where Priest had found Mark? She chewed her bottom lip again, a habit that she had tried had to break, before deciding. Before she began, she glanced in the rearview to ensure the littlest ones were sleeping.

"Mark…about this safe place. How far is it?"

Took me 'n' Priest two days to get to the Abbey." Mark replied after thinking about it for a few minutes. "But it was a straight shot North and we didn't have a bunch of us to worry about."

"So then probably more like four from here with the kids?"

"I'm guessing, but yeah."

"Would you recognize it when we get close?"

"Not a problem. It's the only place I remember living before Priest, ever."

"What is this safe place, anyway?"

"It's where me and a bunch of other kids went when we had nowhere else to be. The guy in charge was great, he took care of us all, just like Priest does."

"Then why'd Priest that you?"

"We were attacked while we were out one day. Captured and on our way to the pens. I escaped and made my way home, but by then no one was there anymore, at least no one important."

"Where'd they all go?"

"I don't know. Priest arrived a couple of weeks later and took me away from there. I never knew what happened to the others, he always said not to worry, he was sure someone came back… at least for the old man downstairs."

"Old Man?"

"They say he ran the school first, long before I was there. They were on the third or fourth leader, I'm not sure which, when I got there. It used to be the Xavier Institute."

"So then it was a school or an orphanage?"

"It was a school… and once it was the home to the X-men."

"The X-men are a myth Mark."

"They weren't always."

They drove in silence after that, Kelly surprised to hear the legend was real, while Mark was once more missing his family. Both his new family, and the Xavier's family. Sometimes the other family felt like a dream, though he hoped someone came back for the old man like Priest said they would.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men.

.

A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

.

**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

**_._**

**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

_._

_**Chapter Eight**_

_On the road, near the Northern Territory._

Logan sat staring at Wraith as she finished her tale. It all seemed so hard to believe, yet he felt it was true. If only there was some way of changing their fate, as she had suggested they had done before.

"So we never figured out what happened to the kid?" he asked finally, picking out one of the many questions racing through his head.

"We never got him back." She replied.

"So, ya gonna tell me who you used to be?"

She smiled briefly at him. "Logan. Once I trusted you completely. I would have followed you into anything and I did. But I have too many people counting on me, innocent people, to share dangerous information like that."

"Yet you told me you were killing people because you were once a hero."

"That's different. They already figured out that much of it."

"I see." He replied, staring out of the window.

He still had to decide if he wanted to continue on his journey alone, or if he wanted to risk getting close to people again. It was a hard choice, one that he wasn't sure if there was a correct answer. She realized, of course, that it wasn't an easy choice for him. Logan, generally, was a loner. Very rarely throughout his long life had he truly opened himself up to anyone, and with the traumas of the last few years it had to be even harder than it had been before.

With a sigh, she reached into her bag. " Here, take this. There's one number already programed into it. If you change your mind, just hit 1." She stated while she handed him the phone.

"Won't givin me this increase your risk too?" He asked.

"No, it's a 'burn phone'. You couldn't trace a paper trail back to me if you wanted to. The number at the other end is the same way. We disabled the GPS on them a long time ago too." She replied.

With that she pulled over once more, this time in front of a bus station. "Good luck Logan. I hope you change your mind."

Before he can respond, she had already pulled away. Sighing, and not sure he had made the right choice, Logan sat on a bench and attempted to come up with an actual plan.

_Maybe I shoulda just gone with her? It's probably not too late ta call her back._ Logan thought as he pulled the phone back out of his pocket. Before he could dial, he noticed a young mother and her children on the edge of the platform. She was attempting to stack her bags, while keep track of a boy of about two, while holding an infant. He stood to offer to help, slipping the phone back into his pocket.

The expression on the woman's face was enough to change his mind, both about offering to help and calling Wraith. This woman had clearly encounters those Dogs that looked like him before. He could tell by her level of terror.

Wraith had said something in passing about 'the children' while she was telling him the story. If there were still students in her care, they would be afraid of him as well. No it would be better just to carry on his journey alone.

He turned and walked away from the station instead, still undecided on what his next move would actually be. Now that he had been made aware of his previous roll in all of this, he wasn't sure it was right to just sit and watch anymore. On the other hand, his interference may make matters worse, just like that poor woman back at the station.

He spotted a local gas station and made up his mind, at least for today. For today, he would simply forget. Perhaps tomorrow he would decide how to proceed.

Wraith, meanwhile, watched him first start to approach the young mother, then head toward the gas station before sighing herself, having given up. She didn't have time to waste, just holding her former leader's hand. Her children needed her and she missed her husband, so it was time to go home.

~o~O~o~

_Genosha, Royal Palace_

Wanda had not made the decision lightly, however, it was apparent to her Genosha was no longer a safe place to keep her children, or Xavier. Where to go instead was the real question.

She realized their only real options were the Guild… or Xavier's Institute. Now the question was really which option was the correct one. They had searched the island, and no one was left. Not a single person, was alive on the island outside of those that were in the sublevels of the Palace. She'd looked over the reports again and again but the results were firm, there were a total of twenty five people left on the entire island.

She was also well aware that not everyone would join her, wherever she went, but no matter where they settled, she had to go to the Guild first. The Assassins' were going to want Juliana with them. She wasn't sure about the LeBeau children, as their mother was among the captured.

Once the decision was made, Wanda surprisingly breathed easier. With a plan in mind, all of this seemed manageable. Next she needed to announce the plan to the remaining members of her people. Then she would call Collette again, to inform her of the plan.

A few minutes later, she had everyone gathered as she began. " It is time to admit defeat here. There is nothing left to rebuild at this point. Therefore, I'm taking my children and the LeBeau children to the Guild. Anyone who wishes to join us is welcome, however, I understand."

Hathorn immediately sated he and Tony were coming, Alan and Devon Garrnett also agreed right away to join them. Unsurprisingly, Sturgis also agreed. Lorna, of course was following her sister wherever she went. Everyone else felt they were better off going it alone. Wanda was sad, but understood, and held no ill will against them.

~o~O~o~

_Unknown Location, forest_

He had been stalking them for the last day and a half, taking them out as they straggled behind, as he tried to decide if he cared enough to learn where they were going. These monsters had stolen his life, taken his face, killed his children; however his only semi-rational thought at this point was that if he could follow them home, he could destroy the nest. So he continued to follow them.

They hadn't noticed him yet, which any other time would have been odd to him, but now he was too far gone to take note of it really. As they approached another place, a house in a clearing, he sincerely hoped whoever had been here had already moved on, or he was going to have to take the rest of the pack down before they led him 'home'.

Sabretooth crouched on the edge of the clearing as he listened carefully for sounds of life from the cabin. The others, his copies included, seemed far less concerned about stealth. He stood carefully, to ensure they didn't decide to take note of him, and crept forward himself, as the sounds of splintering wood and a female scream disturbed the calm of the forest. "Damn it." He grumbled under his breath, as they pack made up his mind for him.

He rushed the rest of the way to the cabin as the woman's screams were abruptly cut off, and rushed into the cabin through the broken doorway. The woman, who was the source of the scream, lay unconscious on the floor as the Dogs torn apart her tiny home.

With out waiting to learn what they were searching for, or to consider if he should check on the woman's help, Sabretooth jumped forward, joining quickly into the fray that had begun over the kitchen items, namely the pot roast the woman had been preparing dinner.

With a primal scream of rage and pain for all that he had lost, Sabretooth tore into his enemies. First taking down all three of the females, followed quickly by the large Blue and the small one, before turning his attention to the Blonds. These were the creatures that had done the most damage to his life, they were the ones who owed him his revenge. Battling this flat version of himself would give most people pause, but not Sabretooth. He was far too angry and had been himself, at times, just as viscous.

He attacked the closest first, tearing into it's back before it realized he was there. The second finally took notice of him and chuckled wickedly as it dived forward, attacking Sabretooth before he dropped the first one. Growling fiercely, he dropped his limp copy as he turned to fight the attacker, finishing it with a stragic blow. He had learned long ago when these things first popped up that they were weaker than he was, still far stronger than most of their victims, but stoppable even in a rage.

He turned to the final Dog, who oddly enough, took one look at him and ran. He stood in the center of the carnage undecided if he should xheck on the victim or follow the final Dog, when the choice was made easy by the groan of the woman on the floor, and the crunching of tires on gravel.

Not bothering with a second glance, he ran from the building and picked back up the trail, it wasn't as easy to track one instead of a pack, but for him, still possiblr. Vaguely he hoped that woman would be alright and if any of his children survived.

He shut down this line of thought though, he needed his rage to fuel him, however, thinking about his own young would distract him which he could not afford while tracking himself.

~o~O~o~

_Deathlands, international broadcast._

Death walked calmly onto the quickly constructed stage, as the last bolts were tightened. He cleared his throat and there was immediate silence as the cameras began to roll.

"Someone had the audacity to attack several of my agents this week. This in itself would be punishable by death. However, not only were my agents attacked, the ones in question were the Mayors of their townships. Now I have been very generous to you people, far more than fair in your curfews and freedoms, and this is how my leniency has been repaid, but no more! If a single person is caught out after dusk in any township, it will be burned. Not the person the entire community. There will be no public events until further notice. Any public gathering will result in immediate execution. Finally." He said, gesturing to his aides, who drug several people on stage. " I want the troublemaker found. Until he or she is brought to me, I will personally execute one person every hour, on the hour, beginning now."

With this statement, he immediately took a hold of the first victim, a girl of eighteen or nineteen, and broke her neck. " You have one hour to decide." With that, he stepped calmly away from the camera, as the girl's family began to cry.

He walked calmly back to his temporary office and waited, Death was well aware that someone would step forward, or forcibly turned in; he was also well aware that whomever was turned in would not be the actual culprit.

Over the last three years the leaders of various occupied areas had been targeted. Until now Death never thought about it, not his sector, not his problem was his philosophy. Now though the group seemed to have turned their sights of his lands.

He knew too, that most of the others assumed that it was one person, however something in the back of his mind insisted that there was more than one.

~o~O~o~

_Cabin, Northern Territory_

"Mommy's here!" Megan yelled from the window.

Laura immediately looked up from her schoolwork, glancing at her father, before jumping up to join her sister at the window. Father sighed in relief, and smiled down at Kevin.

"C'mon, let's go show you off."

"Kay." Kevin replied, before climbing down from the table and joining the girls at the window. He wanted to get a look at her too. After all the girls had been telling him how nice she was for days.

She was inside a minute later, and swarmed by the girls. She hugged them and looked at her husband. "Troubles?"

He gestured at the little boy still next to the window, while he mouthed the word "Dogs". She looked over at the little boy, who hadn't noticed the exchange, and smiled.

"And who's this?" She asked.

"This is Kevin, Mommy. He's gonna be our new brother, an Emily our new sister." Megan replied, excitedly.

"Hi, Kevin." Mother stated smiling at the boy again.

Kevin ,who was feeling rather shy, mumbled a quiet hello, before hiding behind Father.

"Girls, why don' you and Kevin go play while I help your Mother unload the truck?" He stated, smiling down at the boy.

The girls reluctantly head to their room, dragging Kevin along. He smiled tiredly after them, before walking over to his wife and hugging her. "I'm glad you made it back alright."

"I saw the news about Genosha, I came home as fast as possible. Where did you find him, and…Emma?"

"Emily. They were in a car on the road. Alone. Their mom was attacked by Dogs." He replied.

"Oh, Remy…"

"Laura heard the baby crying. I would have missed the sound. But she went out by herself."

"Oh my God."

"That's how I felt too."

"…I ran into somebody on the road." She said hesitantly, pulling away from his embrace slightly.

"Who?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Logan." She stated, hugging her husband once more. "He had no idea who I was."

"Anna, I'm sorry."

"S'kay. We knew that anyway. Otherwise he'd have been back before now. I invited him to join us, gave him a phone in case he changed his mind."

"You think he will?"

"I'm not sure. Don' say anything to Laura."

"I wouldn't dream of it. She don' need that stress."

They talk for a few more minutes, as the unload the truck, while she tells him about her trip, and he tells her about finding the children. Then he takes her into their room to introduce her to Emily.

Afterwards, she headed to the children's room to officially meet Kevin. Kevin sat on the floor with Megan, playing with the blocks, while Laura watched nearby as she read her novel.

"Hi Kevin. I'm Anna." She said, crouching down next to the little boy. "I'm Laura and Megan's Mommy."

"Hi." Kevin replied. "Me'n' Em'ly still gets to stay?"

"Of course you do sweetheart! Why wouldn't you?"

"Cause, ifs we're loud, we gots to leave. Lots and lots o' times."

"Well we ain't getting rid of you."

The little boy smiled at her as she gave him a hug. He was far too young to have been through so much, though she felt the same way about her girls. She had been Megan's mother since the child was an infant, and Laura's since Logan disappeared after he went to save Hank. Even if Logan came back now, she wasn't going to just had Laura over to him, she wouldn't keep him away, she just also wouldn't let him take her daughter. Nor would she even consider sending these two new children elsewhere.

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A/N: It's a bit shorter than the other chapters, but I'll do my best to get the next chapter up in a couple of days. Thank you to all of my readers.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men.

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A/N: Semi-sequel to Pour L'enfant (For the child). I will update once a week. Rated for violence.

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**_Abandonner__l'enfant (Forsake the Child)_**

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**_How much can one moment, one life, affect the future?_**

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_**Chapter Nine**_

_En Route, Deathlands_

Why he had decided to do this was simple; they were killing people. However, why he had decided now was a good time to return to the world was a mystery to him. Logan was beginning to remember who he used to be since he had spoken to Wraith. Some things were still fuzzy though.

Logan wished, in a way, that he could remember who she had really been, back then. On the other hand, considering what he was about to do, it was probably for the best that he didn't. Everyone had heard the rumors of how they managed to get everyone to talk eventually, he only hoped that he could convince them that he was indeed Wraith.

With the return of some of these sketchy memories, had come the knowledge that at one point he had known all four of the horsemen. He had, in fact, called them all friends. Luckily Death, out of all of them, he had known the least amount of time, and had never worked beside as far as he could tell.

As he entered the town Death was currently occupying, Logan felt the rush of familiar images hit him. He'd been here before too, long ago, before the X-men. He looked around carefully at the familiar yet changed landscape of a city that had once been a town, in his youth. It had been far too long to remember anything that would be of use to him now, so he pushed the memories back down, before they could overwhelm him.

He had been a different person when he had been here. It was long before the name Logan, long before the man Wolverine had been considered. Logan walked into the square, and searched for one of Death's soldiers. A moment later he spotted one, and approached.

"Hey, bub. Lookin for me?" Logan demanded in a growl.

"And you would be?"

"Wraith."

Before he could react, if he had been intending to, the butt of the man's rifle hit him in the temple, with painful accuracy. Logan was dazed but conscious. He crumpled to the ground, however, as the man had been expecting. Four other guards approached, and they silently lifted him into the back of a truck. This had been easier than he thought it would be.

_~o~O~o~_

_Undisclosed location, outside 'den'_

Sabretooth had followed that _thing_ through the night, without a break, but it had paid off, because it had led him directly here. He watched it enter the door and listened to the sounds inside, before approaching himself.

Inside the warehouse was dark, barely enough light filters through the high grimy window for him to see the large main room. The room itself smelled similar to a kennel or a zoo. Hundreds of animals kept together in a small space, it smelled of these bodies. Sabretooth fought the urge to recoil from the scent. It wasn't that the smell was terrible to him,but rather it appealed to his feral side, to just let go and become the animal.

The room was covered in a scarred wood floor, with piles of straw and blankets strewn around, the walls had once been painted white, but were worn bare from claw marks and dents from both sharpening of claws, and battles between the Dogs.

At the other end of the room, he could just make out a door, that most likely led to an office, however, he would have to carefully navigate past it piles of sleeping or murmuring Dogs around him.

As he attempted to decide which would be the best route to take around these enemies, the door yanked open and the overhead lights came on. The Master stepped through the office door as the Dogs began to stir.

"Get up! All of you. And welcome your newest members." Master stated. Sabretooth stiffened, for a moment thinking that he had been caught already, before relaxing when several creatures had been led into the room.

These were new, he had never seen their kind before. They were much like the other Blues , in that they had fangs and claws, as well as fur covered bodies. However, they were much smaller than the other Blues, and seemed to all have a rather long tail.

Following the lead from the others, he showed no real interest in the newcomers, as they filed in and joined the ranks. After a dozen of them had found their places amongst the piles of bedding, a handful of red headed young women carried in large pots and metal bowls. The others perked up at this sight.

The women began walking up and down the uneven rows ladling out the greyish gruel from the pots and handing the bowls to the Dogs. A minor skirmish broke out the row over from him, as the woman handed a bowl to one of the females and a Blond growled.

"Enough or you can wait until tomorrow." The woman said, without fear.

The Blond grumbled but resumed his space on their pallet to wait his turn. A moment later she handed him his bowl and pat him on the head.

Sabretooth silently scoffed at this behavior, but then felt the tendrils of a telepathic search. To prevent them finding him out, he quickly shut down his thought process, instead allowing his 'animal' side take over for now. After a few minutes, the physic tendril pulled back and no alarm was raised. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Sabretooth took the bowl offered to him and sat back to wait for his chance.

_~o~O~o~_

_LeBeau Mansion, New Orleans_

Wanda and the children were repacked and nearly ready to leave, when Lorna walked into the suite. She leaned on the doorframe, with her arms crossed as she watched her sister juggle the sleepy Tallia, and the clasp to the child's suitcase.

"Were you going to offer help, or just stare all day?" Wanda asked, a little irritably.

"Just stare." Lorna replied as she walked over and took her niece. "Actually I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes?"

"Wanda…I'm not going with you. I can't, not there. It only holds bad memories for me." Lorna replied, hugging the infant.

"I understand." Wanda replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I wasn't going to ask you to come actually. We need someone to stay here; both to help the Guild and keep track of what's left of our people."

"I spoke with Collette last night, she intends to take on Them." Lora replied, with concern in her voice.

"I know, and they will need help with that too, it's part of the reason I need to go see Remy. He's stayed in the shadows long enough, the war is here." Wanda replied.

~o~O~o~

_Cell, undisclosed location_

They had thrown Kurt back in an hour ago, though so far he hadn't woken. Bobby was growing concerned over that, usually people were aware and screaming in pain by this point. What if he didn't wake up?

Bobby refused to go near the other man however, because of the Plan. Hey had developed the Plan late last night, and he sincerely hoped it had worked, though at this point, he wasn't sure if it would be a good thing for him.

_Not that it really matters, I'm not exactly useful to anyone anymore.I haven't been in a very long time._ Bobby mused as he watched the figure on the other bed. Either way, he needed to think of some sort of plan of his own.

The memories were now nearly all returned. He remembered returning to the mansion, the feeling of unreality of Gambit taking Wolverine's place as leader, his bitter anger at everything that had been lost. It was no wonder that he had never been rescued, with the way he had behaved…though Kurt claimed they had searched for Bobby, as they had when Logan and Hank had disappeared. Kurt hadn't come out and said it, but Bobby guessed that that search had cost them either Ororo or Emma…or possibly both of them. If that was the case, he wished they had let him go.

~o~O~o~

_En route to Xavier's_

Remy watched the children sleep in the rearview mirror for a few minutes, before saying to Anna. " I think this has spun so far down this road that we may not be able to hide away anymore."

"I know. I know that we are being thrown back into this war, I think Death may suspect who Wraith really is, even with someone else confessing." Anna replied. " I think Gambit and Rogue may need to return to the world…but it couldn't have come at a worst time for us."

"I know, with two more children, one just an infant, we aren't in the best position to handle all of this, especially if my nieces are joining us, but-"

"It's not just that… I didn't just come home early because of Genosha, or who I ran into on the road, Remy." Anna replied.

Laura interrupted from the backseat, stirring in her sleep and mumbling about monsters, before sharing awake.

"Mama, Father. Do we really have to return There?" The girl questioned.

"Yes, Laura, we do, hunny. We have to go collect your cousins, and find out why those other children are there." Anna replied, as she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed into the back to comfort the girl.

Laura snuggled into her mother's arms, as she replied. "But, they will find us there, and bad things will happen to us."

"We won't stay very long, I don't think, hunny. We just need to check on the others. " Anna replied.

"Would you feel more comfortable, if I had your mother drop me off at the train station and she took you home?" Remy offered.

" No. Yes. I don't know. I would still be scared for you, and I want to see the girls." Laura said. " I just am frightened of that place."

"I understand, now, try to go back to sleep, you will feel better when we arrive and you can see for yourself that it's safe." Remy replied.

Eventually the girl drifted back to sleep, but with a wordless agreement Anna stayed beside her, there would be time enough to talk about everything later.

~o~O~o~

_Xavier's Mansion, Priest's children_

They had gotten all of the little ones settled into a room downstairs. Mark said it was once the Headmaster's suite. The suite actually contained a sitting room with two bedrooms off of it, which decided was the safest place to be right now, so that they would all be together. Hannah, Beth, Daniel, Sarah, and Ethan all managed to squeeze into the large King size bed together in one bedroom, while a little later Mark, Clarissa and Gregory divided between the other bedroom, and the sitting room.

Because the other bedroom's last occupants had been a small girl and a toddler, there was a single twin bed in the room suitable to sleep in , none felt they could fit on the toddler bed. So after a short but heated debate, it was decided that Mark would sleep in the bedroom, and Clarissa would join Gregory on the fold out couch. Gregory had been at the heart of the debate, he had wanted Clarissa in the small room, and Mark to squeeze into the big bed, leaving himself only one as vulnerable to an attack.

Clarissa had pointed out that both bedrooms had windows so they were vulnerable as well, and that an attack was unlikely with the way the building had been disguised. Gregory had then attempted to have them move to a higher floor, but was out voted, at least for the night.

Eventually, exhaustion won out, despite his attempts to stay awake, in fear of the other's safety. He had, after all, done the bulk of the driving, especially when they were close to cities and towns.

After she heard Gregory's snores, Clarissa got out of bed to check on the other kids. She had known that moving before then would have caused Gregory to worry. He was a worrier, and the group protector, even before they had lost Priest and the others. He seemed to feel it was his job to keep them all together and in one piece.

He couldn't do everything alone though, and she wished he'd let the others help more. She wasn't that much younger than him, he could share the burden of leadership with her…she was sure she could handle it. Hopefully this 'LeBeau' guy would arrive soon. With another adult present, then Gregory would relax, she hoped.

After she looked in on Mark, who was sleeping, she made her way quietly to the other room, to check on the little ones. They had somehow piled and tangled together in their sleep, looking a lot like the litter of puppies her dog had when she was little. The pillows and blankets were bunched together at the head of the bed, and partially falling off.

With a smile, she covered them back up with the sheet, and went to lie back down. Now that she knew everyone was sound asleep, and wouldn't be walking around the building in the middle of the night, she was able to sleep herself, if only for a little while.

~o~O~o~

_Deathlands, Death's Headquarters_

He had watched, through partially closed eyes, as they drove out of the town, past well-manicured lawns, and onto an estate. Again, everything seemed familiar, yet different, but he had no time to dwell on such things, as they drug him limply from the van. He was still faking semi-consciousness, hoping they would lower their guard enough to slip out any useful information.

"This bastard's heavy, I hope they pay us by the pound." One of the men joked as they drug him up the stairs to the front door.

"Hell, Mitch, I hope they pay us at all, they forgot my check the last two weeks." The other guard replied.

"Yeah, well they know we ain't gonna get hired anywhere else, so they do what they want." Replied 'Mitch'.

He watched and listened carefully as the men drug him down the dark corridor, however, the men had stopped grumbling as they had entered the manor, and nothing of real interest passed them in the hall.

They reached the study quickly, where they deposited him in a chair and stood back, waiting for Death's orders. Death entered the room moments later, staring at the slumped man in the chair.

He nodded wordlessly to the men, who left the room silently, before he began. "Well, hello then Wraith." Death stated as he sat behind his desk. "Or do you prefer Logan? Or Wolverine? Or perhaps James Howlett."

Logan lifted his head, knowing the ruse had failed and the monster across from him was aware he was awake.

"Ironic isn't it? To sit in this room? Or is your mind to pickled to recognize it." Death continued.

Logan refused to respond, even if he had known what the man was talking about, which he didn't, there was no response to make.

"I see. You still remember nothing, perhaps even less than before. Yet you expect I-us- to believe you are Wraith." Death said, snidely.

Logan just glowered at the creature in front of him, a man he was certain he had once known, though where he was not sure, not that it mattered anymore.

"My Lord could give you the answers you seek. If only you would summit to his will." Death continued, unaffected by Logan's silence. " He could tell you everything, after all. How you are connected to this house, where you are from, what brought you to this point. All we ask in return is that you give us Wraith."

"…Screw you. I am Wraith. I took out more o' yer men then I can remember." Logan replied breaking his silence for the first time.

"I know. I know you have killed many of my, and the Master's agents over the years, however you are not Wraith; indeed, I do not believe Wraith is a single person, but rather a group of them." Death stated, unaffected by Logan's growl. "However, I shall humor you. If you alone are Wraith, how were my agents killed?"

"Poision. Belladonna." Logan stated, guessing that he had caught the scent correctly.

"Bravo. So then tell me 'Wraith', how, if you were indeed working alone, how you managed to kill both my First and War's on the same day three years ago?"

"Talent."

"I see, I see. And tell me dear Logan, however did you manage it from the good Doctor's gene pins?"

Logan fell silent once more, he had thought of a hundred different solutions, but none would be effective. He should have thought of this, however his own sketchy memory had hindered him in this.

"Do you know how I came to be Death? Favored of all my Lord's agents." Death stated, suddenly changing the subject.

Logan refused to rise to the bait, instead remaining mute.

"No? Well then I shall tell you. I killed the last Death. Ripped his wings from his back, tore his head from his shoulders and presented them to my Lord. I was made Death the same day. It is how it is done, and how it will always be done. The only way to rise to power is to remove the one before you."

"Why should I give a damn about your impromptu history lesson?" Logan growled.

"Because, my dear Logan, you came here, not with the intent of turning yourself in for justice, but rather to kill me. I simply thought you should be made aware of the price of this rash move."

"Ain't like I plan ta take your place." Logan replied as he started to rise, since Death was aware of his intent there was no reason for stealth.

"Nor did I, dear friend, nor did I, not until the moment of his death." Death replied rising as well.

Whether this was meant as a threat or a warning Logan did not either think about or care. He rose as well ready to attack his one-time friend turned foe. As Death circled the desk Logan crouched ready to make the first strike. Death was within range in seconds and Logan unsheathed his claws for the first time in six years.

Death struck him with a blow strong enough to send him sailing backwards through the wall, and into the waiting guards. The guards, who not long ago were discussing their lack of pay, were crushed under the weight of the heavy small man, but he did not pause to consider their health as he jumped back to his feet returning to the battle without missing a beat. He slashed ferociously, allowing his rage to guild him movements, instinct completely taking over.

This was not the first time blood had been spilled in these halls, nor was it the first time he had unsheathed his claws here. The rooms echoed with screams of the past and present as Death and Wolverine fought up and down them, tearing into each other with a fierceness only known to the so called 'Ferals'.

Death tore deeply into Wolverine's side as Wolverine buried his claws to his fist in Death's chest. Joined for a moment, the two struggled to cause more damage to their opponent, leaving rivers of blood in their wake.

Death threw them both out of a window in the front parlor, as the battle continued into the gardens, painful memories of a long forgotten past threatening to surface and distract Logan. This, of course was why this location had been chosen, in hopes of this distraction leading to his defeat. Instead, however, it only served to fuel his anger as he relived both the good and the bad of his once childhood home.

Death had, without intent; given Wolverine the fuel he needed to sustain his anger. Here in these rooms, on these grounds lived the ghosts long forgotten of a weak sickly boy who would one day become one of the world's greatest fighters.

Those ghosts did not weaken him, as Death had hoped. A miscalculation his realized as Wolverine rend his heart from his chest. Within moments, Death will be dead, unless his Lord sees fit to save him. However he knew, had always known, that Apocalypse would not save him, He would not reward weakness, and Death's miscalculation was just that.

As his vision faded, the last he saw was Logan disgustedly throwing his heart down beside him as Logan walked away, wound healing as he went. In a weak, last attempt to save himself, Death picked it up and returned it to his body before darkness overcame him.

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End file.
